Private  :  Library 

—OF— 

ERNEST  H.  MOORE, 

DIXON, 


THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 


THIS  COUNTRY 
OF  OURS 


BY 

BENJAMIN    HARRISON 

EX-PRESIDENT    OF   THB    UNITED   STATES 


TffTKD  EDITION 


NEW   YORK 

CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S   SONS 

1898 


COPYRIGHT,  1897,  BY 
CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S   SONS 


PREFACE 

THIS  volume  does  not  deal  at  all  with  the  ma- 
terial resources  of  our  country.  It  has  nothing  to 
do  with  lands,  or  merchandise,  or  markets.  It  is 
not  a  philosophical  dissertation  on  civics,  nor  a 
commentary  on  the  Constitution.  It  is  a  modest 
attempt  to  give  my  readers  a  view  of  the  machin- 
ery of  our  National  Government  in  motion,  and 
some  instruction  as  to  the  relations  and  uses  of 
its  several  parts.  The  larger  part  of  the  contents 
of  the  book  appeared  in  the  Ladies'  Home  Journal 
during  the  years  1896-97.  That  text  has  been 
carefully  revised  and  much  new  matter  added. 
The  purpose  of  the  book  is  to  give  a  better  knowl- 
edge of  things  that  have  been  too  near  and  famil- 
iar to  be  well  known.  We  stumble  over  things 
that  are  near  our  toes.  I  hope  it  may  also  tend  to 
promote  an  intelligent  patriotism  and  a  faithful 
discharge  of  the  duties  of  citizenship. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

PREFACE, v 

INTRODUCTION, iz 

CHAPTER  I. 
THE  CONSTITUTION, 1 

Manner  of  its  Adoption — Deals  with  Large  and  Per- 
manent Things — Three  Great  Departments — A  Gov- 
ernment of  Specified  Powers,  but  Supreme  in  Those— 
Not  a  Confederation — Division  of  Powers  between  th« 
Nation  and  the  States. 

CHAPTER  II. 
THE  CONGRESS, 17 

Under  the  Confederation,  one  House — Two  under 
the  Constitution — Apportionment  of  Representation — 
Qualifications  and  Pay  of  Senators  and  Representatives 
— Their  Terms — Power  of  Congress  over  Times  and 
Manner  of  Choosing — Times  of  Meeting  of  Congress — 
Classification  of  Senators — Secret  Sessions. 

CHAPTER  III. 
THE  CONGRESS, 44 

Organization  of  each  House — Officers — Rules — Com- 
mittees— Quorum — Introduction  and  Passage  of  Bills 
— Petitions— Revenue  Bills — Appropriations — Taxing 
Power — Internal  and  Foreign  Commerce. 


IV  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  IV. 

PAGB 

THE  PRESIDENT,       .......  68 

A  Single  Executive — Cabinet  Officers— Term  of  the 
President— Manner  of  Choosing — Electoral  College- 
Elections  by  House  and  Senate. 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE  PRESIDENT  (Continued), 85 

Qualifications  —  Succession  —  Notification  —  Inau- 
guration— Messages . 

CHAPTER  VI. 
THE  PRESIDENT  (Continued), 98 

Enforcement  of  the  Laws — The  Appointing  Power 
— Senate's  Request  for  Papers  —  Controversy  with 
President  Cleveland — Vacation  Appointments — Rela- 
tions of  Cabinet  Officers — Usage  as  to  Congressional 
Influence  in  Appointments  —  Senatorial  Courtesy  — 
Civil  Service. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  PRESIDENT  (Continued), 113 

Enforcement  of  Laws — Peace  of  the  United  States — 
Assault  on  Justice  Field — Railroad  Strikes — Aliens — 
Use  of  Army. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  PRESIDENT  (Continued), 126 

How  Bills  are  dealt  with — The  Veto — Approval  of 
Bills—  "  Pocket  Veto  "— "  Riders  "—  Theory  of  the 
Veto — Practice — The  Treaty-making  Power — Action 
in  Senate — Participation  of  the  House — Abrogation. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  IX. 

PAGE 

THE  PRESIDENT  (Continued) 142 

The  Pardoning  Power — Amnesty — Mr.  Lincoln's 
View — Attempt  to  Except  Treason — Reprieve — Com- 
mutation— Impeachment — The  Process — The  Penalty 
— A  Rare  Proceeding — Some  Cases — Andrew  Johnson. 

CHAPTER  X. 

THE  PRESIDENT  (Continued), 159 

Official  Life  at  the  Executive  Mansion — A  Home 
and  Office  Combined — Historic  Desk — Office  Force — 
The  Mail — Autographs — Begging  Letters — Business 
Receptions — Desk  Work — Office-seekers — Social  Ob- 
servances —  Washington's  Questions  —  House  and 
Grounds  Public. 

CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  STATE  DEPARTMENT,        .        .        .        .    r   .        .  181 

Eight  Executive  Departments— The  Cabinet  Table 
— Origin  of  the  Office — Under  the  Confederation — 
Under  the  Constitution — Office  Force  and  Methods — 
Foreign  Correspondence  —  Consultations  with  the 
President — Presentation  of  Ministers — The  Consular 
Service — Should  Leave  Politics  at  Home. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  TREASURY  DEPARTMENT, 202 

It  is  the  Steam-plant — Transactions  Affect  Money 
Market — Our  Mixed  Currency  System — Gold  Redemp- 
tion and  Reserve — Established  under  Constitution — 
Hamilton  the  First  Secretary — Organization  of  De- 
partment— Principal  Officers  and  their  Duties. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

PAGE 

DEPARTMENTS  OF  WAR  AND  JUSTICE,    ....  221 

War  Department  Organized — Duties  of  Secretary — 
Principal  Officers — Heads  of  Staff  Corps — Making  Big 
Guns — Coast  Defences — The  Military  Academy — At- 
torney-General's Office — Department  of  Justice  Created 
— Duties  of  Attorney-General — Organization  of  His 
Department. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
THE  POST-OFFICE  DEPARTMENT, 288 

What  are  Post  Routes — Postmaster-General  not  in 
Cabinet  until  1829— Mail  Service  in  the  Colonies — 
Franklin  Postmaster  and  Postmaster-General — Postage 
Rates — Newspapers  in  the  Mails. 

CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  POST-OFFICE  DEPARTMENT  (Continued),         .        .  241 

Organization — Free  Delivery — Money  Orders — Reg- 
istry—Star Routes— Ocean  Mail  Service — The  Tele- 
graph—Foreign Mail. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  NAVY  DEPARTMENT, 251 

The  Old  Navy — Building  Ships  and  Making  Guns 
— Navy  Yards  —  Militia  —  Apprentices  —  Department 
Created — Organization — Naval  Grades — Promotions- 
Retirement — Enlisted  Men. 


CONTENTS  Vll 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

PAGE 

THE  NAVY  DEPARTMENT  (Continued) 261 

Marine  Corps — Duties  of  Revenue  Marine — Hydro- 
graphic  Office  —  Naval  Academy  —  Appointment  of 
Cadets — Assignment  of  Graduates — Naval  War  Col- 
lege— Torpedo  Station — Prizes  and  Prize  Money. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE  DEPARTMENTS  OF  THE  INTERIOR  AND  OF  AGRI- 
CULTURE,          268 

Department  of  Interior  Established  1849 — Variety 
and  Importance  of  Work — The  Public  Lands — How 
Acquired,  Surveyed,  and  Sold — Homestead  Law — 
Mines  and  Miner's  Law  —  Census  of  Population, 
Wealth,  and  Industry — The  Indians — No  more  Trea- 
ties—Lands in  Severally — Schools — Indian  Territory 
— Pensions— Patents  — Education— Geological  Survey 
— Agricultural  Department  Created  in  1862 — Made  an 
Executive  Department  in  1889— Organization — Work 
of. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 
INDEPENDENT  BOARDS  AND  COMMISSIONS,      .        .        .  292 

Smithsonian  Institution  —  Origin  of  —  Regents  — 
Joseph  Henry  —  Department  of  Labor  —  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission — Civil  Service  Commission — 
Pish  Commission  —  Professor  Baird  —  The  Carp  a 
Blunder. 


Vlll  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   XX. 

PAGE 

THE  JUDICIARY, 300 

A  Supreme  Independent  Judiciary — Judicial  Powers 
Under  Confederation — Constitutionality  of  Laws  of 
Congress — Of  the  States— Court  Tries  Actual  Cases- 
Washington's  Questions  —  Suit  Against  a  State — 
Eleventh  Amendment — Washington's  Estimation  of 
Supreme  Court— No  End  to  Constitutional  Questions 
— Political  Questions. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 
THE  JUDICIARY  (Continued), 314 

Creation  of  Supreme  Court — Number  of  Justices — 
Jay  and  Marshall — Tenure — Gowns  and  Wigs — Scope 
of  Federal  Jurisdiction — Rule  in  Construction  of  State 
Laws— Original  Jurisdiction  of  Supreme  Court— Cir- 
cuit and  District  Courts— Circuit  Courts  of  Appeals — 
Court  of  Claims — High  Character  of  Federal  Judges. 

APPENDIX. 

CONSTITUTION  OP  THE  UNITED  STATES,         .        .        .  831 

INDEX 347 


INTRODUCTION 

PEKHAPS,  before  entering  upon  a  study  of  the 
structure  of  the  Government,  it  may  be  well  to 
speak  of  the  relations  of  the  citizen,  in  a  broad 
way,  to  the  political  organization  to  which  our 
fathers  gave  the  name :  The  United  States  of 
America.  God  has  never  endowed  any  statesman, 
or  philosopher,  or  any  body  of  them,  with  wisdom 
enough  to  frame  a  system  of  government  that 
everybody  could  go  off  and  leave.  To  pay  taxes 
and  to  submit  to  the  laws  are  far  short  of  the 
whole  duty  of  the  citizen.  A  government  is  made 
strong  and  effective,  both  for  internal  and  foreign 
uses,  by  the  intelligent  affection  of  its  citizens. 
Men  may  stand  with  a  fair  degree  of  steadiness  in 
the  front  of  battle,  out  of  fear  of  the  provost-guard 
or  of  a  court-martial,  but  only  a  love  of  the  flag 
will  send  the  line  forward  with  an  esprit  that  walls 
of  earth  and  men  cannot  withstand.  Nothing  in 
the  late  war  between  Japan  and  China — not  the 
wonderful  revelation  it  gave  of  military  equipment 
and  leadership  on  land  and  sea,  on  the  part  of  the 


X  INTRODUCTION 

Japanese — was  so  surprising  as  the  animating  and 
universal  spirit  of  patriotism  that  the  Japanese 
people  displayed.  Many  young  men  domiciled  in 
this  country  hastened  home  to  join  the  army,  and 
almost  to  a  man,  however  poor,  they  sent  a  money 
contribution  to  the  war-chest.  One  of  our  naval 
officers  told  me  that  each  of  the  Japanese  servants 
on  his  ship  contributed  a  month's  pay — and  did  it 
with  enthusiasm.  The  Japanese  thought  seemed 
to  be,  "  What  can  I  give  to  the  war  ?  "  while  the 
Chinese  more  often  asked,  "  What  can  I  get  out 
of  it  ?  " 

A  true  allegiance  must  have  its  root  in  love. 
And,  since  kings  have  ceased  to  be  the  state,  and 
constitutions  have  put  bridles  upon  rulers,  loyalty 
has  a  better  chance.  Institutions  have  no  moods. 
Since  constitutional  government  has  been  fully  es- 
tablished in  England  "  the  king  can  do  no  wrong  " 
— the  cabinet  must  answer  to  the  country.  There 
is  a  love  in  English  hearts,  and  in  all  hearts,  for 
the  good  and  venerable  woman  who  for  so  long 
has  been  queen  of  England,  born  of  her  personal 
virtues ;  but  she  is  loved  by  Englishmen  more  for 
what  she  personifies — the  government  and  the 
glory  of  England.  She  is  always  for  the  state, 
never  for  a  party — party  management  is  left  to  the 
ministry. 

If  we  would  strengthen   our  country,  we  must 


INTEODUCTION  XI 

cultivate  a  love  of  it  in  our  own  hearts  and  in  the 
hearts  of  our  children  and  neighbors ;  and  this 
love  for  civil  institutions,  for  a  land,  for  a  flag — if 
they  are  worthy  and  great  and  have  a  glorious  his- 
tory— is  widened  and  deepened  by  a  fuller  knowl- 
edge of  them.  A  certain  love  of  one's  native  land 
is  instinctive,  and  the  value  of  this  instinct  should 
be  allowed ;  but  it  is  short  of  patriotism.  When 
the  call  is  to  battle  with  an  invader  this  instinct 
has  a  high  value.  It  is  true  that  the  large  ma- 
jority of  those  who  have  died  to  found  and  to 
maintain  our  civil  institutions  were  not  highly  in- 
structed in  constitutional  law ;  but  they  were  not 
ignorant  of  the  doctrines  of  human  rights,  and  had 
a  deep,  though  perhaps  a  very  general,  sense  of 
the  value  of  our  civil  institutions. 

If  a  boy  were  asked  to  give  his  reasons  for  lov- 
ing his  mother,  he  would  be  likely  to  say,  with  the 
sweetest  disregard  of  logic  and  catalogues,  "  Well, 
I  just  love  her."  And  we  must  not  be  hard  on  the 
young  citizen  who  "  just  loves  "  his  country,  how- 
ever uninstructed  he  may  be.  Nevertheless,  patri- 
otism should  be  cultivated — should,  in  every  home, 
be  communicated  to  the  children,  not  casually,  but 
by  plan  and  of  forethought.  For  too  long  our 
children  got  it  as  they  did  the  measles — caught  it. 
Now,  in  the  schools,  American  history  and  Ameri- 
can civil  institutions  are  beginning  to  have  more, 


Xll  INTRODUCTION 

but  not  yet  adequate,  attention  as  serious  and  im- 
portant studies. 

The  impulse  of  patriotism  needs  to  be  in- 
structed, guided  —  brought  to  the  wheel  —  if  it 
is  to  do  the  every-day  work  of  American  poli- 
tics. Sentiment  ?  Yes,  never  too  much ;  but  with 
it,  and  out  of  it,  a  faithful  discharge  of  the  prosy 
routine  of  a  citizen's  duty.  A  readiness  to  go  to 
the  field  ?  Yes,  and  equally  to  the  primaries  and 
to  the  polls.  The  real  enemies  of  our  country — 
the  dangerous  ones — are  not  the  armed  men  nor 
the  armored  ships  of  the  great  Powers.  If  there  is 
too  much  exuberance  in  the  thought  that  we  can 
whip  the  world,  it  is  a  safe  saying  that  we  can  de- 
fend our  land  and  coasts  against  any  part  of  the 
world  that  will  ever  be  in  arms  against  us.  We 
are  alert  as  to  foreign  foes — the  drum-tap  rouses 
the  heaviest  sleepers.  But  we  are  a  dull  people  as 
to  internal  assaults  upon  the  integrity  and  purity 
of  public  administration.  Salvation  Army  meth- 
ods seem  to  be  needed  in  politico-moral  reforms. 
It  has  seemed  to  me  that  a  fuller  knowledge  of  our 
civil  institutions  and  a  deeper  love  of  them  would 
make  us  more  watchful  for  their  purity  ;  that  we 
would  think  less  of  the  levy  necessary  to  restore 
stolen  public  funds,  and  more  of  the  betrayal  and 
shame  of  the  thing.  A  good  argument  might  be 
made  for  the  wave  theory  as  applied  to  patriotism, 


INTRODUCTION  Xlli 

for  it  seems  to  have  its  ups  and  downs.  There 
are  eras  when  it  rises  to  the  combing  point,  and 
others  when  greed  and  selfishness  rise  above  it  on 
either  side. 

The  old-time  Fourth  of  July  celebration,  with 
its  simple  parades  and  musters,  the  reading  of 
the  Declaration,  and  the  oration  that  more  than 
supplied  the  lack  of  glitter  and  color  in  the  pa- 
rade— once  the  event  of  the  year — went  out  of 
fashion.  We  allowed  ourselves  to  be  laughed  out 
of  it.  It  may  be  that  the  speaker  was  boastful, 
but  a  boaster  is  better  than  a  pessimist.  The  day 
as  a  patriotic  anniversary  was  almost  lost,  and  a 
family  picnic  day  or  a  base-ball  day  substituted. 
It  is  coming  back,  and  we  ought  to  aid  in  reinstat- 
ing it.  The  old  Declaration  has  a  pulse  in  it  and 
a  ring  to  it  that  does  the  soul  good.  Has  your 
boy  ever  read  it  ?  Have  you — all  of  it  ?  I  should 
like  our  census-takers  to  be  required  to  get  an  an- 
swer to  that  question.  I  read  recently,  to  a  little 
eight-year-old  boy,  Macaulay's  "  Horatius."  There 
was  much  that  was  beyond  him,  but  he  caught  the 
spirit  of  the  heroic  verse,  and  his  eye  kindled  as  I 
read.  Children  are  eager  for  true  tales  of  heroism, 
and  our  history  is  replete  with  them.  The  story 
of  Washington's  army  at  Valley  Forge,  told  in  a 
familiar  way,  is  better  than  Macaulay'  s  "  Hora- 
tius " — for  the  sufferings  at  Valley  Forge  were  by 


XIV  INTRODUCTION 

our  countrymen,  for  us.  In  the  home,  and  before 
the  school-days  come,  the  feelings  should  be  kin- 
dled and  sentiment  awakened.  Do  not  be  ashamed 
to  love  the  flag  or  to  confess  your  love  of  it.  Make 
much  of  it ;  tell  its  history ;  sing  of  it.  It  now 
floats  over  our  schools,  and  it  ought  to  hang  from 
the  windows  of  all  our  homes  on  all  public  days. 

During  the  Atlanta  campaign  our  army  had  for 
weeks  been  marching  and  fighting  amid  the  timber 
and  brush,  so  thick  that  often  the  right  company 
could  not  see  the  regimental  colors.  The  soldier 
knew  that  his  corps  was  in  line  to  the  right  and 
left  of  him ;  but  what  a  mighty,  spontaneous  cheer 
went  up  one  day  when  the  advancing  line  unex- 
pectedly broke  into  a  long  savannah  (or  meadow) 
and  each  regiment  with  its  fluttering  banners  was 
revealed  to  every  other.  It  was  an  inspiring  sight. 
It  is  so  with  the  peaceful  forces  that  are  enlisted 
for  law  and  social  order  and  good  government. 
They  are  revealed  now  and  then  under  the  flag — 
to  the  patriot,  a  security  and  an  inspiration  ;  to  the 
evil-disposed,  "  terrible  as  an  army  with  banners." 
I  like  to  think  of  the  flag  as  I  saw  it  one  night  in 
Newport  Harbor.  Clouds  of  inky  blackness  had 
extinguished  the  stars,  and  only  the  harbor  lights 
revealed  to  our  pilot  the  path  to  the  sea.  Still- 
ness and  darkness  brooded  over  the  waters  and 
over  the  shores.  Suddenly  there  was  presented 


INTRODUCTION  XV 

to  our  sleepy  eyes  a  dazzling  sight.  Away  up  in 
the  heavens  the  star-spangled  banner  appeared, 
lustrous  as  a  heavenly  vision ;  its  folds,  waving 
gently  in  a  soft  night  air,  seemed  to  shine  by  in- 
herent light,  and  to  move  by  inherent  life.  The 
flag  was  "  transfigured  before  us,"  and  seemed  to 
have  been  flung  out  of  the  skies,  rather  than  lifted 
from  the  earth.  It  was  not  a  supernatural  effect. 
A  great  search-light  turned  upon  the  flag  as  it 
hung  from  a  high  staff  wrought  all  this  surpass- 
ing beauty. 

A  greater  reverence  for  law  is  a  sore  need  in  this 
land  of  ours.  Perhaps  a  better  knowledge  of  what 
the  laws  are,  how  they  are  made,  and  how  their 
defects  may  be  remedied  in  an  orderly  way,  will 
strengthen  the  conviction  that  they  must  be  ob- 
served by  every  one.  Government  implies  a  body 
of  rules,  called  laws  or  ordinances,  proceeding  from 
a  source,  whether  king,  or  parliament,  or  congress, 
or  legislature,  or  city  council,  having  authority  to 
frame  and  declare  them.  The  authority  to  frame 
and  declare  implies  a  power  to  enforce — to  com- 
pel obedience  and  to  inflict  penalties  upon  the 
persons  or  estates  of  the  disobedient.  In  free  rep- 
resentative governments,  such  as  ours,  the  people, 
either  directly  or  indirectly,  at  popular  elections, 
choose  the  persons  who  make  the  laws,  whether  of 
the  United  States,  of  the  States,  or  of  the  cities  and 


XVI  INTRODUCTION 

towns.  But  the  obligation  to  yield  reverence  and 
obedience  to  the  laws  is  not  diminished,  but  greatly 
strengthened,  by  the  consideration  that  they  pro- 
ceed from  the  people.  Laws  for  the  government 
of  society  can  have  no  higher  origin  than  the  con- 
sent of  those  who  are  to  be  governed  by  them. 
Who,  unless  it  be  an  exiled  king,  can  question  the 
legitimacy,  the  authority,  of  a  government  "  of  the 
people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people?  "  In 
these  words  of  Mr.  Lincoln  we  have  a  terse  and 
comprehensive  description  of  the  ideal  American 
civil  system.  They  might  be  used  as  a  spirit-level 
or  a  plummet  to  test  the  courses  we  are  placing 
upon  the  old  foundations. 

A  government  that  proceeds  from  the  people,  is 
administered  by  them,  and  has  for  its  high  and 
only  end  the  general  welfare,  ought  to  be  able  to  com- 
mand the  respect,  the  allegiance,  and  the  obedience 
of  its  citizens.  But  obligations,  whether  of  a  con- 
tractual, civil,  or  moral  sort,  only  influence  the 
conduct  of  men  through  their  consciences  or 
through  their  fears.  We  have  not  too  much  help 
when  both  of  these  conservators  of  social  order  are 
in  strong  exercise — and  both  should  be  cultivated 
and  used.  But  our  dependence  is,  and  must  always 
be,  chiefly  upon  the  educated  consciences  of  the 
people.  A  cultivation  of  a  love  for  the  flag,  of 
which  I  have  spoken,  and  of  a  law-reverencing  con- 


INTRODUCTION  XV11 

science,  should  be  begun  in  childhood.  This  must 
be  largely  the  work  of  parents  and  teachers,  for 
they  have  the  care  and  instruction  of  the  young. 
My  plea  is  to  them,  that  they  will  stir  the  young 
hearts  in  their  homes  and  schools  to  love  the  flag 
and  the  things  it  stands  for,  and  teach  them  to  have 
a  scrupulous  regard  for  the  law  as  a  rule  of  action 
for  the  citizen.  They  will  readily  understand  that 
they  should  keep  the  law,  "  Thou  shalt  not  kill," 
whether  it  is  read  from  the  Decalogue  or  the  crim- 
inal code.  But  those  laws  that  have,  or  seem  to 
have,  no  moral  quality  in  them — that  forbid  the 
doing  of  things  not  bad  in  themselves — may  they 
not  be  slighted  or  evaded  if  the  observance  of 
them  is  inconvenient  or  against  our  interest,  and 
the  penalty  not  too  threatening  ?  Many  laws  are 
made  necessary  because  we  have  neighbors — be- 
cause there  are  so  many  people.  If  there  were  not 
so  many  people  using  the  park  we  might  repeal  the 
law  that  forbids  the  plucking  of  flowers  and  sub- 
stitute the  milder  rule  that  Senator  Hoar  has  set 
up  on  his  grounds,  "  Don't  pull  up  the  roots."  The 
flowers  are  planted  in  public  grounds  and  at  the 
public  expense,  and  in  a  sense  they  belong  to  the 
people ;  but  since  there  are  not  enough  for  all  to 
pull,  and  as  there  cannot  be  an  equal  and  the 
largest  enjoyment  of  them  in  that  way,  the  pulling 
of  them  is  forbidden.  All  can  have  frequent  and 


XV111  INTRODUCTION 

equal  enjoyment  of  the  flowers  if  the  appropriation 
of  them  is  by  the  eye,  and  hands  are  kept  off.  A 
very  little  child  can  understand  this  object  lesson, 
and  when  it  has  once  been  received  it  will  restrain 
the  feet  from  crossing  many  a  forbidden  border. 
If  all  laws,  great  and  small,  are  not  to  be  observed 
by  every  citizen,  but  each  is  to  make  an  elective 
code  for  himself,  it  is  the  end  of  civil  order.  If  you 
may  choose,  I  may,  and  each  of  us  has  disabled 
himself  as  a  citizen.  The  man  who  participates  in 
or  apologizes  for  the  blowing  up  of  a  saloon  ought 
to  be  held  particeps  in  the  retaliatory  crime — 
the  blowing  up  of  the  church.  "We  are  having 
a  Renaissance  of  patriotism,  and  need  a  Renais- 
sance of  conscience  toward  the  law.  The  man 
or  woman  who  hides  property  from  the  customs 
officer  or  the  tax-gatherer,  or  slips  a  fee  into  his 
hand  to  obtain  a  preference  he  ought  not  to  give, 
cannot  take  the  lead  in  a  "  tiger  hunt."  No  execu- 
tive officer  should  be  criticised  for  enforcing  the 
law.  We  cannot  allow  him  any  choice ;  if  we  do, 
he  becomes  a  law-maker.  The  legislators,  under 
our  system,  make  the  laws ;  and  if  they  are  unwise 
in  the  opinion  of  a  majority  of  the  people  they  can 
be  changed.  But  till  then  obey  them,  as  you  love 
your  country  and  her  peace. 

A  lynching  is  a  usurpation — a  dethronement  of 
our  constitutional  king — the  law — and  the  crown- 


INTEODUCTION  XIX 

ing  of  a  cruel  and  unbridled  tyrant.  Neither  ex- 
cuses nor  extenuation  should  be  allowed,  in  a  state 
where  the  courts  are  in  the  orderly  exercise  of  their 
powers,  and  the  judges  are  subject  to  impeachment. 
The  persons  who  are  the  victims  of  mob  violence 
are  mostly  not  the  rich  and  the  influential,  but  the 
ignorant  and  the  friendless — those  of  whom  an 
undue  influence  with  courts  and  juries  cannot  be 
predicated ;  and  the  imputed  crimes  are  mostly  of 
a  nature  to  exclude  the  sympathy  of  the  trial  offi- 
cers. The  feet  of  justice  may  well  be  quickened 
without  any  loss  of  dignity  or  certainty ;  but  the 
inquest,  the  open  trial,  the  judicial  sentence  and 
execution,  are  the  constitutional  rights  of  every 
man  accused  of  crime ;  and  every  citizen  is  under 
the  highest  obligation  to  make  the  case  his  own 
when  they  are  denied  to  any  other  citizen.  A 
lynching  brutalizes  those  who  take  part  in  it,  and 
demoralizes  those  who  consent  to  or  excuse  the 
act.  Crime  is  not  repressed,  but  stimulated.  The 
evidence  has  not  been  taken ;  and  to  his  friends 
the  man  is  a  victim  whose  blood  calls  for  revenge. 
As  a  nation  we  are  inexpressibly  shamed  by  these 
lynchings,  and  a  broad  movement  on  national  lines 
to  educate  public  sentiment,  and  to  enliven  the 
slumbering  consciences  of  our  citizens,  is  desirable 
and  timely.  There  should  be  a  medal  of  honor 
for  the  sheriff  or  jailer  who,  at  the  risk  of  his  life, 


XX  INTRODUCTION 

and  in  the  face  of  an  inflamed  community,  defends 
his  prisoner  against  the  mob.  The  man  who  loathes 
the  guilty  and  cowering  wretch  in  his  custody,  and 
yet  dies  to  defend  him  from  a  mob  because  the 
law  makes  it  his  duty  to  keep  him  and  to  present 
him  before  the  lawful  tribunal,  is  worthy  of  a 
monument.  I  can  think  of  no  higher  test  of  the 
loyalty  of  a  soul  to  duty. 

All  this  has  been  said  to  impress  upon  my 
readers  the  fact  that  we  live  under  a  government 
of  law,  and  that  our  oath  of  fealty  includes  all  the 
laws — the  small  as  well  as  the  great — the  incon- 
venient as  well  as  the  convenient.  We  should 
regard  the  law  with  more  of  the  awe  and  reverence 
given  in  old  times  to  the  king.  If  we  have  not 
consented  unto  each  particular  law  that  it  is  good, 
we  have  given  to  legislators  chosen  by  us  power, 
within  certain  limitations,  to  make  laws,  and  have 
solemnly  obligated  ourselves  to  obey  such  laws 
for  the  time  being,  or  until  other  legislators,  better 
informed  as  to  public  sentiment  or  more  responsive 
to  it,  shall  repeal  or  modify  them.  This  compact 
is  the  basis  of  our  civil  system,  and  the  only 
guarantee  of  social  order,  and  it  follows  that  the 
scrupulous  observance  of  it  is  the  test  of  good 
citizenship.  He  who  breaks  one  law  is  guilty  of 
all,  for  the  covenant  is  not  divisible.  It  is  a  false 
and  mischievous  opinion  that  any  law  can  be 


INTRODUCTION  XXI 

voluntarily  broken  without  guilt.  I  do  not  stop 
to  consider  real  cases  of  conscience,  such  as  arose 
under  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  nor  the  ultimate 
right  of  a  people  to  overturn  a  government  that 
has  ceased  to  subserve  the  true  ends  of  government ; 
for  our  danger  does  not  lie  in  the  direction  of  the 
highly  conscientious.  The  chief  promoters  of  law- 
lessness are  greed,  corporate  and  individual,  in  its 
various  manifestations,  and  the  parasite  of  greed — 
anarchism.  These  corrupting  and  destructive 
forces  assume  in  their  campaigns  the  indifference 
of  the  body  of  the  people.  The  forces  of  good 
order  have  no  outposts;  the  whole  army  is  gen- 
erally on  furlough.  Signal  fires  and  minute  guns, 
and  runners  carrying  the  torch  from  village  to  vil- 
lage, as  in  the  old  days  of  Scotland,  are  needed  to 
summon  the  forces. 

We  have  not  realized  in  government,  any  more 
than  in  mechanics,  inherent  and  perpetual  motion. 
It  is  not  enough  to  construct  and  to  start.  Watch- 
fulness, administration,  and  love  are  needed  to 
keep  the  best-planned  government  on  its  projected 
lines.  Men,  rather  more  than  machines,  need 
watching.  Not  only  in  civil  affairs,  but  in  business, 
especially  in  corporate  affairs,  the  idea  of  the 
delegation  of  power  and  responsibility  has  been 
carried  too  far.  The  citizens  or  the  stockholders 
choose  officers  and  then  go  about  other  business — 


XX11  INTRODUCTION 

devolving  upon  these  officers  all  responsibility  for 
good  administration.  That  is  not  the  true  idea  of 
the  relation  of  a  citizen  to  public  officers.  He 
should  put  himself  and  all  his  personal  influence 
behind  the  faithful  public  officer,  and  confront  as 
an  accuser  and  prosecutor  the  unfaithful.  This  is 
not  an  agreeable  duty,  but  it  is  as  much  a  part  of 
the  covenant  of  citizenship  that  we  will  lend  our 
aid  in  making  others  obey  the  law  as  that  we 
will  keep  the  law  ourselves.  Our  Government  is  a 
"law  and  order  league"  in  perpetuity,  and  the 
members  have  something  more  to  do  than  to  elect 
officers  and  appoint  committees.  Public  abuses  are 
the  direct  and  necessary  result  of  public  indiffer- 
ence. The  plunderers  step  over  sleeping  sentinels 
and  take  by  stealth  the  citadels  they  could  never 
carry  by  assault.  The  law  and  order  forces,  on 
the  other  hand,  are  without  strategy ;  the  assault 
in  force  is  their  only  war  resource.  Small  evils 
grow  to  be  large  because  there  is  no  one  to  take  a 
walking-stick  and  kill  them.  Reformers  affect 
broadswords  and  columbiads.  A  walking-stick 
reformer  may  invoke  ridicule,  but  enough  of  them 
will  put  the  columbiads  and  broadswords  out  of 
use. 

We  need  general  assemblies  of  the  people  in  the 
smaller  civil  subdivisions,  town  meetings  in  which 
two  questions  only  shall  be  considered :  First,  are 


INTRODUCTION  XX111 

the  public  officers  faithfully  and  honestly  transact- 
ing the  public  business  ?  Second,  are  the  laws — 
not  this  law  or  that,  but  all  laws — enforced  and 
obeyed?  The  enforcement  of  the  law,  whether 
we  opposed  or  aided  the  making  of  it ;  the  strict 
accountability  of  public  officers,  whether  we  opposed 
or  aided  their  election,  should  be  the  objects  and 
the  limits  of  these  meetings.  There  should  be  no 
distinction  of  persons.  Our  law  and  order  move- 
ments are  too  apt  to  be  confined  to  what  we,  not 
too  accurately,  call  "influential"  people.  Every 
man  and  woman  ought  to  have  a  chance  to  choose 
his  or  her  side,  without  regard  to  station,  or  wealth, 
or  race,  or  color.  There  will  be  none  too  many. 
In  some  such  movements  it  has  seemed  to  me  that 
many  have  been  assigned  to  the  wrong  side  who 
would  have  chosen  the  right.  There  is  danger 
that  such  may  accept  the  place  they  would  not 
have  chosen.  Can  any  working  plan  be  devised 
to  maintain  from  day  to  day  an  effective,  watch- 
ful interest  among  the  body  of  our  citizens  in 
the  enforcement  of  the  laws,  and  in  a  clean,  honest 
administration  of  public  affairs — small  and  great  ? 
Or,  are  we  to  accept  the  humiliating  conclusion 
that  bad  things  cannot  be  made  good,  or  even 
better,  until  they  come  to  be  persistently  and 
utterly  bad ;  or,  still  worse,  that  when  the  river  of 
popular  indignation  has  cleaned  the  stable,  it  is 


INTRODUCTION 

only  to  leave  us  without  a  supply  of  water  for 
daily  sanitation  ? 

With  an  ardent  love  for  our  country,  with  a  pro- 
found reverence  for  the  law,  and  with  a  new  resolve 
to  be  watchful,  helpful  citizens,  we  are  now  ready 
for  some  familiar  talks  about  "This  Country  of 
Ours." 


THIS   COUNTRY  OF  OURS 

CHAPTEE  I 
THE  CONSTITUTION 

MANNER  or  ITS  ADOPTION— DEALS  WITH  LARGE  AND  PERMANENT 
THINGS  — THREE  GREAT  DEPARTMENTS  —  A  GOVERNMENT  OF 
SPECIFIED  POWERS,  EOT  SUPREME  IN  THOSE— NOT  A  CON- 
FEDERATION—  DIVISION  OF  POWERS  BETWEEN  THE  NATION 
AND  THE  STATES. 

THE  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was 
framed  by  a  convention  that  assembled  in  Phila- 
delphia on  May  14,  1787,  and  finished  its  work 
September  17th  of  the  same  year.  The  Seventh 
Article  is  as  follows :  "  The  ratification  of  the 
conventions  of  nine  States  shall  be  sufficient  for 
the  establishment  of  this  Constitution  between  the 
States  so  ratifying  the  same."  On  and  prior  to 
June  21,  1788,  the  conventions  of  the  following 
States,  and  in  the  order  named,  ratified  the  Con- 
stitution :  Delaware,  Pennsylvania,  The  8tate8 
New  Jersey,  Georgia,  Connecticut, 
Massachusetts,  Maryland,  South  Carolina,  and 
New  Hampshire.  The  other  States  ratified  as 
follows :  Virginia,  June  26,  1788 ;  New  York,  July 


26,  1788;  North  Carolina,  November  21,  1789; 
Bhode  Island,  May  29,  1790.  Government  under 
the  Constitution  was  instituted  by  the  inaugura- 
tion of  George  "Washington  as  President,  at  New 
York,  April  30,  1789.  Congress  had  assembled 
on  March  4th,  but  a  quorum  of  both  Houses  was 
not  present  until  April  6th. 

The  word  "Constitution,"  as  used  among  us, 
implies  a  written  instrument ;  but  in  England  it 
Meaning  of  *s  use(l  ^°  describe  a  governmental 
"ConBtihfflon."  SyStem  or  organization  made  up  of 
charters — as  the  Magna  Charta — the  general  Acts 
of  Parliament,  and  a  body  of  long- established  legal 
usages  or  customs.  These  are  not  compiled  in 
any  single  instrument,  as  with  us,  but  are  to  be 
sought  in  many  places. 

The  common  American  usage,  in  making  a  State 
Constitution,  is  to  elect,  by  a  popular  vote,  dele- 
gates to  a  convention,  whose  duty  it  is  to  prepare 
a  plan  of  government.  When  the  delegates  have 
agreed,  and  have  properly  certified  the  instrument, 
it  is  submitted  to  a  direct  vote  of  the  people,  and 
each  voter  casts  a  ballot  "  For  the  Constitution  " 
or  "  Against  the  Constitution."  If  a 

How  made. 

majority  vote  for  the  Constitution  it 
then  becomes  the  paramount  law  of  the  State. 
The  Legislature  does  not  make  the  Constitution  ; 
the  Constitution  makes  the  Legislature ;  though 


THE   CONSTITUTION  3 

the  convention  is  assembled  under  an  act  of  the 
Legislature.  The  American  idea  is  that  constitu- 
tions proceed  from  the  people,  in  the  exercise  of 
their  natural  right  of  self-government,  and  can 
only  be  amended  or  superseded  by  the  people. 
Whatever  one  Legislature  or  Congress  enacts  the 
next  one  may  repeal,  but  neither  can  repeal  or  in- 
fringe a  Constitutional  provision. 

The  delegates  to  the  convention  that  framed  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  were  not,  how- 
ever, chosen  by  a  popular  vote  in  the  States,  but 
by  the  Legislatures.  Nor  was  the  question  of  the 
adoption  of  the  Constitution  submitted  in  the 
States  to  a  direct  popular  vote.  The  Ad  d  by  Con. 
Seventh  Article,  already  quoted,  pro-  ventTone  In  state" 
vided  for  a  ratification  by  "  conventions  "  of  the 
States,  but  in  the  choice  of  the  delegates  to  these 
conventions  there  was  an  opportunity  for  an  in- 
direct expression  of  the  will  of  the  people  as  to 
adoption  or  rejection.  Article  Five  makes  this 
provision  for  amendments :  "  The  Congress,  when- 
ever two-thirds  of  both  Houses  shall  deem  it 
necessary,  shall  propose  amendments  to  this  Con- 
stitution, or,  on  the  application  of  the  Legislatures 
of  two-thirds  of  the  several  States,  shall  call  a 
convention  for  proposing  amendments,  which,  in 
either  case,  shall  be  valid  to  all  intents  and  pur- 
poses, as  part  of  this  Constitution,  when  ratified 


4  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

by  the  Legislatures  of  three-fourths  of  the  sev- 
eral States,  or  by  conventions  in  three-fourths 
thereof,  as  the  one  or  the  other  mode  of  ratifica- 
tion may  be  proposed  by  the  Congress."  So  that 
amendments  are  to  be  submitted  to  the  Legislat- 
ures of  the  States  or  to  conventions,  as  Congress 
may  decide.  The  power  of  amendment  cannot  be 
used  to  deprive  any  State  of  its  equal  suffrage  in 
the  Senate,  without  its  consent. 

Fifteen   amendments  to  the   Constitution   have 

been  adopted.     Ten  of  these  were  proposed  to  the 

Amendments  Legislatures   of  the   States    by   the 

adopted  by  State  mi 

Legislatures.  First  Congress,  and  ratified.  The 
other  five  amendments  have,  in  like  manner,  been 
submitted  by  Congress  to  the  State  Legislatures 
for  ratification — conventions  in  the  States  not  hav- 
ing been  used  in  any  case.  It  will  be  noticed, 
also,  that  the  vote  upon  the  adoption  of  the  Con- 
stitution, and  upon  amendments  thereto,  is  by 
States — each  State,  without  regard  to  its  popu- 
lation, having  one  vote.  But  while  these  pro- 
visions make  the  popular  control  less  direct  than 
is  usual  in  the  States,  and  necessarily  recognize 
the  States  in  the  process  of  making  and  amend- 
ing the  Constitution,  the  idea  that  Constitutions 
proceed  from  the  people  is  not  lost. 

A  Constitution  should,  and  usually  does,  deal 
only  with  large  and  permanent  matters.     It  leaves 


THE  CONSTITUTION  6 

details  and  transitory  matters  to  the  Legislature. 
It  is  an  outline  or  frame.  It  establishes  and  defines 
the  powers  of  the  Legislative,  Execu-  j^  only  with 
tive,  and  Judicial  Departments,  re-  large  matters- 
serves  certain  great  natural  rights  of  the  citizen ; 
declares  what  principal  officers  shall  be  elected ; 
prescribes  their  duties ;  provides  for  a  succession 
in  case  of  a  vacancy,  and  for  the  removal  from 
office  of  officers  guilty  of  crime  or  the  abuse  of 
their  powers.  It  is  the  supreme  law  of  the  land. 
The  powers  given  by  the  Constitution  to  the  Na- 
tional Government  are,  fortunately,  couched  in 
general  and  comprehensive  terms.  For  if  there 
had  been  an  attempt  to  particularize,  the  instru- 
ment would  not  have  adapted  itself  to  the  expan- 
sion of  the  country,  and  to  the  new  phases  which 
invention  has  given  to  commerce.  If  the  framers 
of  the  instrument  had  been  required  to  express 
themselves  upon  the  question  whether  the  National 
Government  should  be  given  the  power  to  regulate 
the  method  of  coupling  the  wagons  that  were  then 
the  vehicles  of  the  limited  inland  commerce  be- 
tween the  States,  or  to  arrest  and  punish  any 
citizen  who  obstructed  their  passage,  the  vote 
would  probably  have  been  in  the  negative.  But 
the  railroads  have  demonstrated  the  reasonable- 
ness, and  even  necessity,  of  such  national  regula- 
tions. 


6  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

The  general  plan  of  our  Constitutions,  National 
and  State,  is  a  division  of  Government  into  three 
Three  great  de-  branches  :  the  Legislative,  the  Execu- 

partments. 


this  division  of  powers  are  not  strictly  observed 
in  the  National  Constitution,  for  the  President  has 
something  to  do  with  legislation,  and  the  Senate 
with  executive  appointments.  But  in  a  broad  way 
it  may  be  said  that  there  are  three  co-ordinate  and 
independent  departments  in  our  Government  —  the 
powers  of  each  being  classified  and  defined,  and 
neither  having  the  power  to  invade  or  subordinate 
the  functions  of  the  others.  It  is  important  here 
to  note  a  difference  between  the  powers  of  the 
National  and  of  the  State  Governments.  The 
original  thirteen  States  were  organized  as  States, 
and  had  each  adopted  a  State  Constitution  before 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was  framed 
or  adopted,  save  that  in  Connecticut  the  Charter 
of  1662  was  continued  in  force  as  the  organic  law 
of  the  State  until  1818,  and  in  Rhode  Island  the 
Charter  of  1663  was,  in  like  manner,  continued  in 
force  until  1842.  All  the  powers  of  government, 
save  such  as  had,  by  a  compact  between  the  States 
Articles  of  Con-  called  "  Articles  of  Confederation  and 
federation.  perpetual  Union,"  been  given  to  the 
Continental  Congress,  belonged  to  the  States.  The 
powers  given  to  the  Congress  by  the  Articles  of 


THE   CONSTITUTION  7 

Confederation  were  vague  and  illusory.  They 
were  practically  nil.  For,  where  a  power  was 
given,  the  means  necessary  to  its  exercise  were 
withheld.  There  was  no  effective  union  of  the 
States,  and  nothing  that  could  be  called  a  National 
Government  until  the  Constitution  was  adopted  in 
1789.  Before  that  we  had  a  Congress  consisting  of 
a  single  body  of  delegates.  All  votes  were  taken  by 
States — a  majority  of  the  delegates  from  the  State 
casting  the  vote  of  the  State.  There  was  no  Sen- 
ate, no  separate  Executive  Department,  and  prac- 
tically no  Judiciary.  The  Congress,  either  by  the 
whole  body  or  by  committees,  performed  the  neces- 
sary executive  functions :  commissioned  officers ; 
raised  and  disbursed  revenue ;  conducted  our  di- 
plomacy ;  audited  accounts,  and  exercised  certain 
judicial  functions.  It  was  a  weak  attempt  to  or- 
ganize a  Government,  but  it  answered  so  long  as 
the  common  peril  of  British  subjugation  lasted. 
When  that  threat  was  withdrawn  by  the  peace  of 
1783  the  selfishness  and  jealousies  of  the  States 
became  intense  and  threatened  to  snap  the  feeble 
bonds  that  held  them  in  union.  The  Congress 
became  the  laughing-stock  of  the  country,  and  the 
best  men  shunned  it.  It  had  contracted  debts  in 
the  prosecution  of  the  war ;  and,  the  States  neg- 
lecting or  refusing  to  pay  their  quotas,  Congress 
was  protested  and  dishonored,  for  it  had  no  power 


8  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

to  lay  and  collect  taxes.  It  had  made  commercial 
treaties  with  foreign  Powers,  and  the  States  refused 
to  allow  in  their  ports  the  privileges  guaranteed 
by  the  treaties.  Congress  was  a  mimic  show,  the 
butt  of  jealousy  and  ridicule.  Great  things  were 
demanded  of  men  who  could  do  nothing. 

Each  State  made  its  own  tariff  law.     If  one,  with 
a  view  to  raising  money  to  pay  its  pressing  debts, 

State  jealousies    fixed  a  ^h  rate  On  foreign  goods  inl- 
and conflict*.     ported>  another  would  adopt  a  lower 

rate  to  attract  commerce  to  its  ports.  It  was  hence 
impossible  for  the  States  to  make  a  beneficial  use 
of  the  power  to  levy  duties  on  foreign  goods.  And 
besides,  commerce  between  the  States  was  hindered 
and  bad  blood  engendered  by  duties  levied  by  one 
State  on  goods  coming  from  another.  New  York 
laid  a  duty  on  firewood  coming  down  the  Sound 
from  Connecticut,  and  upon  garden  truck  crossing 
the  river  from  New  Jersey.  Out  of  these  and  many 
like  things  grew  the  conviction  in  the  minds  of  our 
statesmen  and  people  that  "  a  more  perfect  union  " 
was  necessary ;  that  we  must  have  a  National  Gov- 
ernment, to  which  should  be  entrusted  all  those 
general  powers  affecting  especially  our  relations 
with  foreign  countries,  and  the  relations  of  the 
States  with  each  other,  and  including  such  as  were 
necessary  to  the  general  defence  and  welfare.  It  is 
not  possible  here  to  go  into  the  details  of  the  in- 


THE   CONSTITUTION  9 

tensely  interesting  events  and  discussions  that  led 
the  people  of  the  States  reluctantly  to  surrender  to 
the  general  Government  adequate  national  powers. 
Some  of  our  statesmen  of  that  time  were  wise  and 
unselfish,  having  a  dim  view  of  the  glory  to  be  re- 
vealed ;  but  petty  State  jealousies,  and  the  childish 
fear  that  the  Union  would  oppress  the  States,  well- 
nigh  thwarted  its  formation.  The  proposed  general 
government  seemed  to  be  regarded  as  if  it  were  to 
be  foreign  in  its  control  and  purposes,  and  the 
powers  asked  for  it  as  involving  a  surrender  of  the 
liberties  of  the  people.  So  that,  practically,  when 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was  under 
consideration  the  question  was,  What  powers  will 
the  people  of  the  States  consent  to  withdraw  from 
the  States  and  give  to  the  National  Government  ? 
The  answer  was  expressed  in  the  Constitution. 

All  this  has  been  said  with  a  view  to  illustrate 
the  fact  that  the  National  Government  is  one  of 
specified  or  particular  powers.  Con-  A  goyemment  of 
gress  may  not  legislate  upon  all  sub-  6Pecifled  powers, 
jects,  but  only  upon  those  subjects  submitted  to 
its  control  by  the  Constitution.  The  United  States 
Courts  cannot  entertain  all  suits,  but  only  such  as 
involve  particular  subjects,  or  such  as  are  between 
particular  persons,  as  these  are  specified  in  the 
Constitution.  The  language  of  the  First  Article  of 
the  Constitution  is,  "  All  legislative  powers  herein 


10  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

granted  shall  be  vested  in  a  Congress,"  etc.  The 
States,  on  the  other  hand,  have  full  legislative  and 
judicial  powers  over  all  subjects,  except  such  as 
have  been  committed  by  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  to  the  National  Government  or  pro- 
hibited by  that  Constitution  to  the  States.  But  the 
exercise  of  these  powers  by  the  State  Courts  and 
Legislatures  is  in  many  particulars  further  re- 
strained by  the  State  Constitutions,  so  that  there 
are  some  things  that  neither  the  United  States  nor 
a  State  can  do — things  reserved  to  the  people,  things 
they  do  not  want  done.  In  other  words,  the  United 
States  may  do  what  it  is  authorized  by  the  Consti- 
tution to  do,  while  a  State  may  exercise  all  appro- 
priate acts  of  government  except  such  as  belong  to 
the  Nation  or  are  reserved  by  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  or  of  the  State,  to  the  people. 

No  question  can  ever  be  made  as  to  the  consti- 
tutionality of  an  Act  of  the  British  Parliament, 

British  consti-    for  tnat  bodJ  is  invested  with  gen- 
eral and   supreme  legislative  power. 
Mr.  Bryce  says : 

In  England  and  many  other  modern  states  there  is  no 
difference  in  authority  between  one  statute  and  another. 
All  are  made  by  the  Legislature  ;  all  can  be  changed  by 
the  Legislature.  What  are  called  in  England  Constitu- 
tional statutes,  such  as  Magna  Charta,  the  Bill  of  Rights, 
the  Act  of  Settlement,  the  Acts  of  Union  with  Scotland 


THE   CONSTITUTION  11 

and  Ireland,  are  merely  ordinary  laws,  which  could  be 
repealed  by  Parliament  at  any  moment  in  exactly  the 
same  way  as  it  can  repeal  a  highway  act  or  lower  the 
duty  on  tobacco.  .  .  .  Here  therefore  we  observe  two 
capital  differences  between  England  and  the  United 
States.  The  former  has  left  the  outlines  as  well  as  the 
details  of  her  system  of  government  to  be  gathered  from 
a  multitude  of  statutes  and  cases.  The  latter  has  drawn 
them  out  in  one  comprehensive  fundamental  enactment. 
The  former  has  placed  these  so-called  Constitutional 
laws  at  the  mercy  of  her  Legislature,  which  can  abolish 
when  it  pleases  any  institution  of  the  country,  the 
Crown,  the  House  of  Lords,  the  Established  Church, 
the  House  of  Commons,  Parliament  itself.  The  latter 
has  placed  her  Constitution  altogether  out  of  the  reach 
of  Congress,  providing  a  method  of  amendment  whose 
difficulty  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  it  has  been  very 
sparingly  used. ' 

Under  our  system  every  Act  of  Congress  or  of  a 
State  Legislature  is  subject  to  be  nullified  if  the 
courts  adjudge  it  to  be  in  conflict,  in  the  case  of  a 
State  law,  with  the  Constitution  of  the  State  or  of 
the  United  States,  and  in  the  case  of  an  Act  of 
Congress,  with  the  National  Constitution. 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  the 
public  treaties  and  Acts  of  Congress  within  the 
Constitutional  limits,  are  superior  to  and  dominate 
all  State  Constitutions  and  laws.  It  is  enough  to 

1  The  American  Commonwealth,  vol.  i. ,  pp.  237,  238. 


12  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

say  here,  in  a  general  way,  that  the  powers  of  the 

National   Government  embrace   all   those   things 

The  supreme       necessary  or  incident  to  the  dignity 

Law -its  scope.     and  safety  of  tlie  Nation  ;  all  matters 

affecting  our  relations,  whether  of  a  commercial  or 
a  diplomatic  character,  with  other  nations  ;  all 
matters  relating  to  commerce  between  the  States 
and  to  controversies  between  States;  the  public 
defence ;  the  public  lands ;  the  Indian  tribes ; 
naturalization  of  foreigners;  the  postal  service; 
the  granting  of  copyrights  and  patents  ;  the  coin- 
ing of  money ;  the  fixing  of  a  standard  of  weights 
and  measures,  and  the  power  to  levy  and  collect 
taxes  in  specified  ways  for  public  uses. 

It  will  be  seen  that  a  long  list  of  powers  is  re- 
served by  the  States.  In  a  general  way  this  list 
powers  reserved  embraces  all  those  matters  that  re- 
late to  local  control  and  government. 
The  local  control  of  local  affairs  is  as  essential 
as  the  national  control  of  national  affairs.  The 
Tenth  Amendment  to  the  Constitution  is  as  fol- 
lows :  "  The  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United 
States  by  the  Constitution,  nor  prohibited  by  it  to 
the  States,  are  reserved  to  the  States  respectively, 
or  to  the  people."  "What  the  powers  "  delegated 
to  the  United  States "  are  has  been  stated  in  a 
general  way.  The  powers  "  prohibited  by  it  to 
the  States  "  are  that  no  State  shall  enter  into  any 


THE   CONSTITUTION  13 

treaty,  alliance,  or  confederation,  or  grant  letters 
of  marque  and  reprisal,  or  coin  money,  or  issue 
bills  of  credit,  or  "  make  anything  but  gold  and  sil- 
ver coin  a  tender  in  payment  of  debts,"  or  pass 
any  bill  of  attainder,  or  ex  post  facto  law,  or  law 
impairing  the  obligation  of  contracts,  or  grant  any 
title  of  nobility,  or,  without  the  consent  of  Congress, 
lay  any  impost  on  imports  or  exports,  except  it  be 
necessary  in  the  execution  of  its  inspection  laws, 
or  any  tonnage  duty,  or  keep  troops  or  ships  of 
war  in  time  of  peace,  or  enter  into  any  agreement 
or  compact  with  another  State  or  with  a  foreign 
power,  or  engage  in  war  unless  invaded  or  in  im- 
minent danger  of  invasion,  nor  can  any  State  insti- 
tute slavery,  or  abridge  the  privileges  or  immuni- 
ties of  citizens  of  the  United  States,  or  deprive  any 
person  of  life,  liberty,  or  property  without  due  proc- 
ess of  law,  or  deny  to  any  person  within  its  juris- 
diction the  equal  protection  of  the  laws,  or  assume 
or  pay  any  debt  incurred  in  aid  of  insurrection  or 
rebellion  against  the  United  States,  or  any  claim 
for  the  loss  or  emancipation  of  slaves,  or  abridge 
the  right  to  vote  on  account  of  race,  color,  or  pre- 
vious condition  of  servitude. 

The  next  thing  that  it  is  important  to  notice  is 
that  our  Government  is  not  a  confederation  of 
States,  but  as  strictly  a  government  of  the  people 
as  is  any  state  government.  The  Articles  of  Con- 


14  THIS   COUNTRY    OF   OURS 

federation  were  declared  to  be  "Articles  of  Con- 
federation and  Perpetual  Union  between  the  States 
Not  a  confeder-  of  New  Hampshire,  etc."— naming 
each  of  the  States.  But  the  pre- 
amble of  the  Constitution  is :  "  We  the  people 
of  the  United  States,  in  order  to  form  a  more  per- 
fect union,  establish  justice,  insure  domestic  tran- 
quillity, provide  for  the  common  defence,  promote 
the  general  welfare  and  secure  the  blessings  of 
liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  posterity,  do  ordain 
and  establish  this  Constitution  for  the  United 
States  of  America."  It  is  true  that  the  vote  upon 
the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  was,  and  the  vote 
upon  amendments  is,  by  States,  in  State  conven- 
tions or  in  State  Legislatures ;  and  that  in  various 
other  ways  the  States  are  recognized  and  used  in 
the  administration  of  the  National  Government.  It 
could  hardly  have  been  otherwise.  But  the  con- 
struction of  Mr.  Calhoun  and  of  the  Secessionists 
that  our  Constitution  is  a  mere  compact  between 
independent  States  ;  that  any  State  may  withdraw 
from  the  Union  for  any  breach  of  the  conditions 
of  the  compact,  and  that  each  State  is  to  judge  for 
itself  whether  the  compact  has  been  broken,  has 
no  support  either  in  the  history  of  the  adoption  of 
the  Constitution  or  in  the  text  of  the  instrument 
itself. 

In  the  plan  of  government  proposed  to  the  Con- 


THE   CONSTITUTION  15 

vention  by  Mr.  Kandolph,  of  Virginia,  the  Con- 
gress was  to  have  power  "  to  call  forth  the  force 
of  the  Union  against  any  member  of  the  Union 
failing  to  fulfil  its  duty  under  the  articles  there- 
of." l 

The  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States 
take  hold  of  and  deal  with  each  individual,  not  as 
a  citizen  of  this  or  that  State,  but  as  LawB ,  hold  of 
a  citizen  of  the  United  States.  Each  the  citizen- 
of  us  owes  allegiance  to  the  United  States — to 
obey  and  support  its  Constitution  and  laws ;  and 
no  act  nor  ordinance  of  any  State  can  absolve  us 
or  make  it  lawful  for  us  to  disobey  the  laws  or  re- 
sist the  authority  of  the  United  States.  We  owe 
another  allegiance,  each  to  his  own  State,  to  sup- 
port and  obey  its  Constitution  and  laws,  pro- 
vided these  do  not  conflict  with  the  Constitution 
and  laws  of  the  United  States.  In  the  Sixth 
Article  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  it 
is  written :  "  This  Constitution,  and  the  laws  of 
the  United  States  which  shall  be  made  in  pursu- 
ance thereof,  and  all  treaties  made  or  which  shall 
be  made  under  the  authority  of  the  United  States, 
shall  be  the  supreme  law  of  the  land,  and  the 
judges  in  every  State  shall  be  bound  thereby,  any- 
thing in  the  Constitution  or  laws  of  any  State  to 
the  contrary  notwithstanding."  There  can  be,  in 

1  Elliot's  Debates,  vol.  v.,  p.  128. 


16  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

a  proper  Constitutional  sense,  no  secession  and 
no  war  between  a  State  and  the  United  States ; 
for  no  State  ordinance  repudiating  the  national 
authority,  or  organizing  resistance  to  it,  can  have 
any  legal  sanction. 

This  general  sketch  of  the  powers  of  the  Na- 
tional Government  will  be  followed  by  an  examina- 
tion of  the  provisions  relating  to  each  of  its  general 
subdivisions,  and  by  a  study  of  their  practical 
operations. 


CHAPTEE  II 

THE    CONGRESS 

UNDER  THE  CONFEDERATION,  ONE  HOUSE — Two  UNDER  THE  CON- 
STITUTION—  APPORTIONMENT  OF  REPRESENTATION  —  QUALIFI- 
CATIONS AND  PAT  OF  SENATORS  AND  REPRESENTATIVES  — 
THEIR  TERMS— POWER  OF  CONGRESS  OVER  TIMES  AND  MAN- 
NER OF  CHOOSING — TIMES  OF  MEETING  OF  CONGRESS— CLASSI- 
FICATION OF  SENATORS — SECRET  SESSIONS. 

THE  Congress  under  the  Articles  of  Confedera- 
tion consisted  of  a  single  body.  This  system  was 
contrary  to  all  the  experience  of  the  congress  of 

Confederation  a 

colonists.  The  Parliament  of  the  single  body. 
mother  country  consisted  of  two  Houses,  and  the 
colonial  governments  very  soon  and  very  gener- 
ally adopted  the  bicameral  system.  Mr.  Curtis 
says :  "  So  fully  was  the  conviction  of  the  prac- 
tical convenience  and  utility  of  two  chambers  es- 
tablished in  the  Anglican  mind  that,  when  repre- 
sentative government  came  to  be  established  in 
the  British  North  American  Colonies,  although 
the  original  reason  for  the  division  ceased  to  be 
applicable,  it  was  retained  for  its  incidental  advan- 
tages." l 

There  were   no  lords  and  commoners  in  Amer- 

1  Curtis's  Constitutional  History  of  the  United  States,  p.  396. 
2 


18  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

ica  to  suggest  legislative  houses  in  which  each 
should  be  separately  represented,  but  the  Gov- 
ernor and  Council  stood  in  a  more  or  less  strict 
sense  for  the  King,  and  the  need  of  the  counter- 
balance of  a  popular  assembly  was  felt  in  the  Col- 
onies. The  use  of  the  system  became  a  habit  of 
government.  When  the  States  came  to  frame 
First  state  Leg-  their  first  Constitutions,  all  of  them, 

iBlaturee  nearly  all 

bicameral.  except   Pennsylvania    and    Georgia, 

provided  a  Legislature  composed  of  two  Houses. 
But  the  use  of  two  Houses  presupposes  that  for 
the  added  House  there  shall  be  a  different  method 
of  selection,  or  a  different  tenure  of  office,  or  both. 
It  was  not  easy  to  provide  a  second  House  for  the 
Confederation — for  the  States  were  not  yet  ready 
to  admit  the  idea  of  a  representation  based  on 
population.  The  representation  must  be  by  States, 
and  the  votes  by  States — the  smallest  State  hav- 
ing the  same  weight  as  the  largest  in  determining 
every  question.  The  delegates  were  mere  State 
agents,  subject  to  recall  at  any  time,  and  a  second 
chamber  composed  in  the  same  way  would  only 
have  been  an  encumbrance.  And  further,  the  Ar- 
ticles of  Confederation  provided  for  no  separate 
Executive  Department,  but  committed  all  execu- 
tive duties  to  Congress,  and  for  the  exercise  of 
executive  powers  a  single  body  was  better  than 
two.  When  the  Constitution  came  to  be  framed, 


THE   CONGRESS  19 

and  concurrence  had  been  reached  upon  the  propo- 
sition that  the  Government  was  to  be  endowed 
with  full  national  powers,  there  would  have  been 
practical  unanimity  for  a  Legislature  of  two 
Houses,  but  that  the  old  demand  that  the  repre- 
sentation be  by  States,  in  order  to  save  the  smaller 
States  from  the  domination  of  the  larger,  stood  in 
the  way.  The  compromise  finally  hit  upon  made 
two  Houses  essential. 

A  House  of  Representatives  whose  members 
were  to  be  chosen  upon  the  basis  of  population, 
for  a  term  of  two  years,  and  a  Senate  TWO  Houses  of 

Cong  res  6— T  h  e 

to  be  composed  of  two  members  from  compromise. 
each  State,  chosen  by  the  Legislatures,  for  a  term 
of  six  years,  solved  the  apparently  irreconcilable 
difference  in  the  Convention.  The  contention  for 
a  vote  by  States,  however,  had  to  be  abandoned. 
Rhode  Island  has  as  many  Senators  as  New  York, 
but  the  roll  of  the  Senators,  not  of  the  States,  is 
called  on  a  vote.  In  the  Congress  of  the  Confed- 
eration if  a  majority  of  the  representatives  of  a 
State  voted  "  yea,"  the  vote  of  the  State  was  re- 
corded in  the  affirmative — no  account  being  taken 
of  the  minority  who  voted  "  nay."  If  the  vote  of 
the  State  was  equally  divided  it  was  not  counted. 
But  in  the  Senate  each  Senator  is  called  and  his  vote 
recorded,  and  it  very  often  happens  that  one  Sena- 
tor from  a  State  votes  "  yea  "  and  the  other  "nay." 


20  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

It  is  curious  to  note  that  the  plan  of  govern- 
ment proposed  by  Mr.  Eandolph,  of  Virginia,  in  the 
Convention,  provided  for  the  election  of  the  Sena- 
tors by  the  House  of  Representatives  out  of  a  num- 
ber of  persons  nominated  by  the  State  Legislatures. 

The  Constitution  declares  that  the  "  Congress 
of  the  United  States  "  shall  "  consist  of  a  Senate 
and  House  of  Representatives."  The  two  bodies 
constitute  the  Congress.  Popularly,  only  a  mem- 
ber of  the  House  of  Representatives  is  spoken  of 
as  a  "  Congressman  "  or  a  "  Member  of  Congress," 

A  Member  of  ^ut,  ^n  ^ac^>  those  terms  are  just  as 
congress.  ^jy  descriptive  of  a  Senator  as  of  a 
member  of  the  House  —  for  a  Senator  is  a  member 
of  Congress.  The  members  of  the  House  are 
elected  directly  by  the  people  —  the  Senators  indi- 
rectly. That  is,  in  the  election  of  a  member  of 
the  House  each  voter  in  his  proper  district  puts 
his  own  ballot  into  the  ballot-box  for  the  person 
he  desires  to  have  chosen  ;  while  in  the  choice 
of  a  Senator  the  vote  is  given  for  a  member  of 
the  State  Legislature,  with  more  or  less  infor- 
mation as  to  whom  the  member,  if  elected,  will 
Election  and  support  for  Senator.  The  members 
of  the  House  are  chosen  every  two 


years,  the  Senators  every  six  years. 
The  total  number  of  the  members  of  the  House  is 
not  fixed  by  the  Constitution,  but  it  is  limited: 


THE   CONGRESS  21 

"  The  number  of  Eepresentatives  shall  not  exceed 
one  for  every  thirty  thousand  "  of  population — ex- 
cept that  each  State  shall  be  entitled  to  at  least 
one.  A  census  of  the  population  was  required  to 
be  taken  within  three  years  after  the  adoption  of 
the  Constitution,  and  every  ten  years  thereafter, 
and  this  census  is  made  the  basis  of  the  apportion- 
ment of  the  Representatives  among  the  States. 
But  an  agreement  as  to  this  fair  rule  of  apportion- 
ment was  not  reached  without  dim-  Apportionment 
culty,  owing  to  the  fact  that  some  of  *&p7Ct8JS£ 
the  States  had  a  large  slave  popula- 
tion. If  only  free  persons  were  counted  the  influ- 
ence of  such  States  would  be  greatly  reduced,  and 
their  delegates,  therefore,  insisted  that  the  slaves 
should  be  enumerated.  They  were,  by  the  laws 
of  the  States  where  they  were  held,  property — 
chattels  to  be  bought  and  sold — and  there  was  no 
more  reason  why  they  should  be  counted  than  the 
mules  and  oxen  they  drove  to  the  plough.  But 
the  States  of  the  South,  where  the  body  of  the 
slave  population  then  was,  were  insistent,  and  it 
was  finally  agreed  that  in  making  the  enumeration 
of  the  population  there  should  be  added  "  to  the 
whole  number  of  free  persons,  including  those 
bound  to  service  for  a  term  of  years,  and  exclud- 
ing Indians  not  taxed,  three-fifths  of  all  other  per- 
sons." These  "  other  persons  "  were  the  African 


22  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

slaves,  and  the  provision  meant  that  three  out  of 
every  five  slaves  should  be  counted  just  as  if  they 
were  free  persons. 

It  is  curious  to  note  in  all  of  the  provisions  of 
the  Constitution  intended  to  protect  property  in 
The  Thirteenth.  slaves>  tne  careful  avoidance  of  the 
Sen'thAmend^  use  of  the  word  "  slave."  It  is  not 
found  in  the  instrument  until  we 
come  to  the  Thirteenth  Amendment,  which  abol- 
ishes slavery.  The  Fourteenth  Amendment  con- 
tains important  limitations  upon  the  old  rule  for 
the  apportionment  of  members  of  the  House  of 
Representatives.  It  omits  the  phrase  "  all  other 
persons  " — for  there  were  no  longer  "  other  per^ 
sons  " — and  drops  the  word  "  free  "  because  now 
all  were  free.  It  followed  as  one  of  the  results 
of  emancipation  that  two-fifths  of  the  black  popu- 
lation in  the  old  slave  States  before  uncounted 
were  now  to  be  counted,  and  the  representation  of 
those  States  in  the  House  of  Representatives  was 
proportionately  increased.  But  in  some  of  these 
States,  under  the  power  to  determine  the  qualifi- 
cations of  voters,  the  Legislatures  had  in  one  way 
or  another  deprived  the  freedman  of  the  right  to 
vote,  and  in  others  he  was  without  law  excluded 
from  the  ballot-box.  He  was  counted  in  the  ap- 
portionment, but  not  in  the  balloting.  To  remedy 
this  miscarriage  and  injustice  it  was  provided  in 


THE   CONGEESS  23 

the  Fourteenth  Amendment  that  when  the  right 
to  vote  for  Electors  for  President,  Representatives 
in  Congress,  or  State  officers  is  denied  to  any  of 
the  male  inhabitants  of  the  State,  of  the  age  of 
twenty-one  years,  and  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
except  for  crime,  the  basis  of  representation  in 
such  State  shall  be  reduced  in  the  proportion  that 
such  excluded  persons  bear  to  the  whole  number 
of  male  citizens  twenty-one  years  of  age.  This 
provision  relates  to  action  by  the  State  in  denial 
of  the  right  to  vote,  and  does  not  cover  the  case  of 
a  denial  resulting  from  the  lawless  acts  of  individ- 
uals. It  has  never  been  put  into  operation  in  the 
case  of  any  State. 

The  Fifteenth  Amendment  provides  that  neither 
the  United  States,  nor  any  State,  shall  deny  or 
abridge  the  right  of  any  citizen  to  vote  "  on  ac- 
count of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  servi- 
tude." 

The  first  House  of  Representatives  was  com- 
posed of  sixty-five  members.  The  Apportionment 
Act  of  February,  1891,  fixes  the  total  Pirst  Houge  of 
number  of  members  at  three  hundred  RePreeentatives 
and  fifty-six.  The  delegates  from  the  Territories 
have  no  vote  and  are  not  included  in  the  appor- 
tionment ;  and  if  to  these  are  added  the  represent- 
ative from  the  new  State  of  Utah,  the  total  number 
of  members  and  delegates  is  now  three  hundred  and 


24  THIS   COUNTRY    OF   OURS 

sixty.  The  first  apportionment,  made  by  the  Con- 
stitution itself,  upon  estimates  as  to  the  population 
of  the  States,  furnishes  some  interesting  compari- 
sons with  the  apportionment  of  1891.  Two  States 
have  fewer  members  now  than  they  had  in  the 
first  Congress — Connecticut  then  had  five,  now 
only  four;  New  Hampshire  then  had  three,  now 
only  two.  Three  States  have  now  each  precisely 
the  same  number  of  members  they  had  in  the  first 
Congress — namely,  Virginia,  ten;  Maryland,  six, 
and  Delaware,  one.  The  representation  of  Vir- 
ginia in  the  first  Congress  was  larger  than  that  of 
any  other  State — Pennsylvania  and  Massachusetts 
following  with  eight  each,  and  New  York  and  Mary- 
land with  six  each.  Now,  New  York  has  thirty- 
four,  Pennsylvania  thirty,  and  Maryland  its  orig- 
Growth  of  new  inal  six  members.  It  should  be  noted, 
states.  however,  that  "West  Virginia  has  four 

members,  who  should  be  taken  into  the  account  as 
representing  districts  formerly  a  part  of  Virginia. 
The  old  thirteen  States  have  now  one  hundred 
and  thirty-seven  members,  and  the  new  States  two 
hundred  and  twenty. 

Mr.  Gerry,  a  member  of  the  Constitutional  Con- 
vention, foresaw  that  the  seat  of  empire  might 
take  its  way  westward,  and  proposed  "that,  in 
order  to  secure  the  liberties  of  the  States  already 
confederated,  the  number  of  representatives  in  the 


THE   CONGRESS  9 

first  branch  (House  of  Representatives),  of  the 
States  which  shall  hereafter  be  established,  shall 
never  exceed  in  number  the  representatives  from 
such  of  the  States  as  shall  accede  to  this  Confed- 
eration." He  feared  the  new  States  would  "  op- 
press commerce,  and  drain  our  wealth  into  the 
western  country."  His  amendment  was  lost  by 
the  close  vote  of  four  States  to  five,  and  this  very 
narrow  majority  was  probably  secured  by  the 
confident  prediction  of  Mr.  Sherman  that  the  new 
States  would  never  outnumber  the  old.1 

There  were  fears  expressed  in  the  Convention 
that  the  number  of  Representatives  would  be  kept 
so  low  that  the  House  would  not  be  a  safe  and 
popular  body,  but  experience  has  shown  that  the 
tendency  is  to  unduly  enlarge  the  membership 
rather  than  to  unduly  contract  it.  It  has  been 
said  that  every  public  assembly  consisting  of 
more  than  one  hundred  members  is  necessarily  a 
mob,  and  there  have  been  frequent  occasions  when 
the  casual  visitor  to  the  gallery  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  would  have  found  in  what  he  saw 
a  verification  of  the  saying.  But  these  are  excep- 
tional incidents,  and  though  the  order  maintained 
is  often  bad,  and  never  quite  good,  the  public 
business  is  transacted  on  the  whole  with  credit 
and  safety.  The  size  of  the  House,  however,  re- 

1  Elliot's  Debates,  vol.  5,  p.  310. 


26  THIS -COUNTRY  OF  OURS 

quires   stringent  rules  —  that    speeches   be   brief 

and  that  the  Speaker  have  a  severe  control  of  the 

Rules  of  House  proceedings.    The  previous  question, 

and  Senate  -clo-    ' 

ture.  or  some  form  oi  cloture,  to  cut  on 

debate  and  dilatory  motions  and  bring  the  House 
to  a  prompt  vote  on  the  main  question,  is  essen- 
tial in  so  large  a  body,  and,  indeed,  in  any  legis- 
lative body.  The  Senate  rules  do  not  provide  any 
form  of  cloture,  and  debate  there  runs  on  with  no 
limit. 

When  filibustering  and  quorum -breaking  ap- 
pear in  any  legislative  body,  its  effectiveness  and 
usefulness  can  only  be  restored  by  the  cloture  and 
by  noting  the  presence  of  non-voting  members. 
So  long  as  the  dignity  and  self-respect  of  the  Sena- 
tors were  effective  to  exclude  these  evil  practices, 
the  corrective  rules  could  be  dispensed  with.  But 
that  day  is  a  memory.  The  cloture  may  be  made 
liberal,  giving  ample  time  for  discussion  and  am- 
ple opportunity  for  amendment  —  the  essential 
thing  is  that  a  vote  may  at  some  reasonable  time 
be  secured. 

The  qualifications  of  a  member  of  the  House  are 

that  he  shall  have  been  seven  years  a  citizen  of  the 

Qualifications  of  United    States,    shall  be   twenty-five 

Representatives  . 

and  senators.  years  of  age,  and  an  inhabitant  of  the 
State  in  which  he  is  chosen.  A  Senator  must  have 
been  for  nine  years  a  citizen  of  the  United  States, 


THE   CONGKRESS  27 

be  thirty  years  of  age,  and  an  inhabitant  of  the 
State  for  which  he  is  chosen. 

Section  3  of  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  to  the 
Constitution  provides  that  no  person  shall  be  a 
Senator  or  Representative  in  Congress  who,  having, 
as  a  member  of  Congress,  or  as  a  legislative,  execu- 
tive, or  judicial  officer  of  a  State,  taken  an  oath 
to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
afterward  engaged  in  insurrection  or  rebellion 
against  the  same  or  gave  aid  or  comfort  to  the 
enemies  thereof.  "But  Congress  may,  by  a  two- 
thirds  vote  of  each  House,  remove  such  disability." 

The  Constitution  provides  for  apportioning  the 
members  of  the  House  to  the  States,  but  it  does 
not  prescribe  the  qualifications  of  the  Electors  of 
persons  who  may  vote  in  the  States  RePreseiltative8- 
for  such  members — further  than  to  say  that  they 
"  shall  have  the  qualifications  requisite  for  electors 
of  the  most  numerous  branch  of  the  State  Legis- 
lature," and  by  the  Fifteenth  Amendment,  that  the 
right  to  vote  shall  not  be  denied  nor  abridged  on 
account  of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  ser- 
vitude. The  States,  of  course,  determine  who  shall 
be  permitted  to  vote  for  members  of  the  popular 
branches  of  the  State  Legislatures,  and  by  the 
same  act  they  determine  who  shall  be  permitted  to 
vote  for  members  of  the  National  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. If  women  are  by  the  law  of  a  State 


28 

permitted  to  vote  for  members  of  the  popular 
branch  of  the  State  Legislature,  they  may  also 
vote  for  Members  of  Congress. 

The  Constitution  also   gives  to  the  States  the 

power  to  prescribe  "  the  times,  places,  and  manner 

Times,    places,  of  holding  elections  for  Senators  and 

and    manner    of  . 

choosing  Senators  Representatives,  but  reserves  to  Con- 

an  d    Representa-          A 

tives-  gress  the  right  to  "  make  or  alter  such 

regulations,  except  as  to  the  places  of  choosing 
Senators."  The  Congress  may  leave  all  these 
matters  to  the  respective  State  Legislatures,  or  it 
may  take  them  all  into  its  own  hands — except  that 
as  the  election  of  Senators  is  to  be  by  the  Legisla- 
tures, the  places  of  choosing  them  must  be  the 
ordinary  places  of  meeting  of  the  Legislatures — 
the  State  capitals.  Congress  has  full  power  to 
regulate  all  other  matters  connected  with  the  elec- 

Power  of  con-  ^on  °^  Senators  and  Representatives. 
g»»B  over  election  It  may  declare  that  members  of  the 

House  shall  be  elected  "  at  large  "  in  the  States— 
that  is,  that  the  whole  number  assigned  to  a  State 
shall  be  voted  for  by  all  the  voters  of  the  State ; 
or  it  may  divide  the  States  into  districts  and  pro- 
vide for  the  election  of  one  member  for  each  dis- 
trict. It  may  provide  separate  ballot-boxes  and 
National  election  officers  and  canvassing  boards. 

But  all  of  these  powers  have  not  been  exercised 
by  Congress  and  for  the  most  part  the  States  have 


THE   CONGRESS  29 

been  allowed  to  regulate  the  manner  of  choos- 
ing Representatives.  The  United  States  has, 
however,  taken  some  supervision  of  Election  of 
the  election  of  the  members  of  the 
National  Congress.  The  law  of  1866  provides 
that  the  Legislature  chosen  next  before  the  expira- 
tion of  the  term  of  a  Senator  shall  choose  his  suc- 
cessor, and  that  it  shall  proceed  to  do  so  on  the 
second  Tuesday  after  it  assembles.  On  that  day 
each  House  of  the  Legislature  must  vote  separately, 
viva  voce,  for  a  Senator,  and  enter  the  result  on  its 
journal;  the  two  Houses  must  at  12  M.  the  next 
day  meet  in  joint  session,  and  if  it  appears  that 
the  same  person  has  received  a  majority  of  the 
votes  in  each  House  he  is  declared  to  be  elected ;  if 
there  has  been  no  election  the  joint  assembly  must 
take  a  vote,  and  if  anyone  receives  a  majority  of 
the  votes — a  majority  of  all  the  members  elected  to 
both  Houses  being  present  and  voting — he  is  to  be 
declared  elected.  If  there  is  still  no  election  the 
joint  assembly  proceeds  with  the  balloting,  and 
must  meet  every  day  at  12  M.,  and  take  at  least  one 
ballot  each  day  until  a  Senator  is  elected.  The 
Governor  of  the  State  is  required  to  certify  the 
election,  under  the  seal  of  the  State,  to  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Senate,  the  certificate  to  be  counter- 
signed by  the  Secretary  of  State  of  the  State. 
As  to  the  election  of  members  of  the  House  of 


30  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

Representatives  Congress  has  fixed  the  time — the 
Tuesday  after  the  first  Monday  in  November  in 

Election  of  Rep-     eacn  secon(l  7ear  J  has  enacted  that 
relatives.       ^  members  shall  be   elected  from 

single  districts — that  is,  one  member  from  a  dis- 
trict; that  these  districts  shall  be  composed  of 
contiguous  territory  and  contain  as  nearly  as  prac- 
ticable an  equal  number  of  inhabitants ;  that  when 
an  additional  member  is  given  to  a  State  he  shall 
be  elected  from  the  State  at  large  until  the  Legis- 
lature redistricts  the  State ;  and  that  all  votes  shall 
be  by  written  or  printed  ballots.  Article  26  of  the 
Revised  Statutes,  made  up  of  Acts  passed  by  Con- 
gress from  1865  to  1872,  contains  elaborate  provis- 
ions for  regulating  the  election  of  Representatives 
in  Congress.  Provision  was  made  for  supervising 
such  elections  by  supervisors  to  be  appointed  by 
the  United  States  Courts,  and  for  securing  a  free 
ballot  and  the  peace  at  the  polls  by  the  presence 
of  special  deputy  marshals.  A  number  of  crimes 
against  the  ballot  were  defined  and  penalties 
allotted.  These  provisions  were  repealed  in  1894. 
It  would  not  be  appropriate  here  to  discuss  the 
wisdom  of  such  laws.  Generally  they  were  clearly 
within  the  Constitutional  powers  of  Congress,  and 
the  question  is,  therefore,  one  of  expediency.  If 
the  States  provide  equal  and  fair  election  laws,  and 
these  are  fairly  and  firmly  enforced,  so  that  each 


State  Election 
Laws. 


THE   CONGKESS  31 

legal  voter  can  deposit  his  ballot  freely  and  have 
it  counted  honestly,  there  is  no  call  for  the  enact- 
ment of  Federal  election  laws.  But 
it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  mem- 
bers of  the  House  of  Representatives  and  Senators 
are  National,  not  State,  officers,  and  that  the  States 
have  no  inherent  or  exclusive  right  to  regulate  the 
election  of  such  officers.  Election  offences  com- 
mitted at  an  election  for  members  of  the  National 
House  are  National  offences — they  injure  the  peo- 
ple of  all  the  States.  It  is  greatly  to  be  hoped,  and 
much  to  be  preferred,  that  the  States  will  so  vigor- 
ously and  so  righteously  regulate  these  elections 
that  there  may  be  no  need  for  the  United  States 
to  resume  its  Constitutional  powers.  But,  as  Mr. 
Story  says,  "Nothing  can  be  more  evident  than 
that  an  exclusive  power  in  the  State  Legislatures 
to  regulate  elections  for  the  National  Government 
would  leave  the  existence  of  the  Union  entirely  at 
their  mercy." l 

The  use  of  what  is  called  the  "  Gerrymander  "  in 
order  to  obtain  an  undue  party  advantage  in  the 
election  of  members  of  the  House  .,T]ie  Qerry. 
of  Representatives  has  become  a  pub- 
lic reproach.  It  is  the  making  of  unfair  Congres- 
sional districts,  not  having  relation  primarily  to 
population  and  to  the  geographical  relations  of  the 

1  Story  on  the  Constitution,  vol.  i.,  Sec.  817. 


32  THIS   COUNTRY    OF   OURS 

counties  composing  them,  as  they  should,  but  to 
party  majorities  in  the  counties,  with  the  object  of 
giving  to  the  party  making  the  apportionment  an 
undue  advantage.  The  districts  are  made  up  to  be 
Eepublican  or  Democratic,  as  the  case  may  be, 
and  the  voters  of  the  minority  party  in  the  State 
are  cheated  out  of  a  fair  representation  in  the 
Congressional  delegation.  This  is  a  grave  evil, 
but  it  may  be  doubted  whether  it  would  be  cured, 
or  even  much  ameliorated,  in  the  long  run,  if  Con- 
gress were  to  take  into  its  hands  the  making  of  the 
Congressional  districts. 

In  the  first  Virginia  Act  for  the  election  of  Mem- 
bers of  Congress,  a  division  of  the-  districts  was 
brought  about  by  Patrick  Henry  for  the  purpose 
of  securing  a  party  advantage. 

Mr.  Bancroft  says  :  "  He  divided  the  State  into 
districts,  cunningly  restricting  each  of  them  to  its 
own  inhabitants  in  the  choice  of  its  representative, 
and  taking  care  to  compose  the  district  in  which 
Madison  would  be  a  candidate  out  of  counties 
which  were  thought  to  be  unfriendly  to  federalism. 
Assured  by  these  iniquitous  preparations  Monroe, 
without  scruple,  took  the  field  against  Madison." 1 
Happily  this  very  early  instance  of  the  "  Gerry- 
mander "  failed  of  its  purpose.  Mr.  Madison  en- 
tered the  canvass,  and,  going  before  the  people, 

1  Bancroft's  History  of  the  Constitution,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  354-65. 


THE   CONGRESS  33 

defeated  the  design  to  exclude  him  from  the  first 
Congress. 

When  a  vacancy  happens  in  the  delegation  from 
a  State  in  the  House  of  Representatives  by  death 
or  otherwise,  it  must  be  filled  by  VacancieB  in  sen- 
a  new  election,  which  it  is  made 
the  duty  of  the  Governor  to  call,  but  if  a  va- 
cancy happens  in  the  Senate  "  during  the  recess 
of  the  Legislature  "  the  Governor  of  the  State  may 
appoint  a  Senator  to  hold  until  the  next  meeting 
of  the  Legislature,  when  the  vacancy  must  be  filled 
by  an  election.  It  has  been,  and  perhaps  still  is, 
an  unsettled  question  whether  in  case  a  State  Legis- 
lature fails  to  perform  its  duty  to  choose  a  Senator, 
the  Governor  of  the  State  can  fill  the  vacancy  thus 
caused  by  appointment.  The  question  is  one  to 
be  decided  by  the  Senate  under  its  power  to  judge 
of  the  election  and  qualifications  of  its  members, 
and  perhaps  pure  legal  considerations  have  not 
always  controlled  the  action  taken.  It  would  seem, 
however,  that  this  provision  for  the  appointment 
of  Senators  was  intended  to  provide  for  the  cases 
where  the  Legislatures  could  not  act,  and  not  for 
the  cases  of  a  refusal  or  failure  to  act.  Several 
cases  involving  this  question  are  now  (1897)  before 
the  Senate. 

It  is  the  plan  of  the  Constitution  that  one-third 
of  the  Senators  shall  be  chosen  every  two  years, 


34  THIS   COUNTRY    OF   OURS 

and  in  order  to  effect  this  it  is  provided  that  imme- 
diately after  the  first  meeting  of  the  Senate  the 
Senators  shall  be  divided  into  three 

Senate  divided 

into  three  classes.  ciasses_the  first  class  to  retire  at  the 
expiration  of  two  years,  the  second  at  the  expira- 
tion of  four  years  and  the  third  at  the  expiration  of 
six  years — the  full  term.  At  the  first  session  of 
Congress  this  provision  was  put  into  effect  by  this 
method :  Three  lists  of  the  names  of  the  Sena- 
tors were  written  on  papers.  One  contained  the 
names  of  six  senators,  one  of  seven  and  the  other 
of  six.  The  names  of  both  the  Senators  from  a 
State  were  not  in  any  case  placed  upon  the  same 
list.  Three  papers  of  equal  size  were  then  placed 
in  a  box,  and  three  persons  were  selected  to  draw 
them  out.  The  lot  determined  the  terms  for 
which  the  Senators  on  the  several  lists  should 
serve — one  list  for  two  years,  one  for  four  years 
and  one  for  six  years.  When  the  successors  of 
the  Senators  in  each  of  these  three  classes  were 
elected  they  were  elected  to  serve  a  full  term,  and 
thereafter  one-third  of  the  Senators  by  the  expira- 
tion of  full  terms  vacated  their  seats  every  two 
years.  In  the  case  of  a  vacancy  by  death  or 
resignation  the  election  is  not  for  a  full  term,  but 
for  the  unexpired  term. 

As  each  new  State  is  admitted  and  becomes  en- 
titled to  representation  in  the  Senate  its  Senators 


THE   CONGKESS  35 

are  so  assigned  as  to  preserve  the  classification, 
the  assignments  being  determined  between  them 
by  lot  drawn  in  the  presence  of  the  senators  from 

.  new  States  classi- 

Senate.  There  are  now  ninety  Sen-  fled. 
ators  when  the  Senate  is  full  —  three  classes  of 
thirty  each.  The  Senators  from  Utah — the  last 
State  admitted  to  the  Union  (1896)— fell  into  the 
two  and  four  year  classes,  and  so  serve  only  for 
those  periods,  instead  of  full  terms  of  six  years. 
Of  this  provision  Story  says :  "  Here,  then,  is  a 
clause  which,  without  impairing  the  efficiency  of 
the  Senate  for  the  discharge  of  its  high  functions, 
gradually  changes  its  members  and  introduces  a 
biennial  appeal  to  the  States  which  must  forever 
prohibit  any  permanent  combination  for  sinister 
purposes.  No  person  would  probably  propose  a 
less  duration  of  office  for  the  Senate  than  double 
the  period  of  the  House.  In  effect,  this  provision 
changes  the  composition  of  two-thirds  of  that  body 
within  that  period." i 

The  Constitution  requires  Congress  to  meet  every 
year,  and  fixes  the  first  Monday  in  December  as 
the  day  of  meeting,  "  unless  they  shall  Meetings  and  ad- 

jonrnments  of  Con- 
by    law    appoint    a    different   day.    gress. 

There  have  been  thirty-one  sessions  of  Congress 

commencing  on  days  other  than  that  named  in  the 

Constitution.  Thirteen  of  these  (including  the  First 

1  Story  on  the  Constitution,  vol.  i.,  Sec.  724. 


36 

Session  of  the  55th  Congress)  have  been  special 
sessions  assembled  by  proclamation  of  the  Presi- 
dent on  a  day  fixed  by  him,  and  in  the  other  cases 
a  special  day  of  meeting  was  fixed  by  law.  If  Con- 
gress is  assembled  before  the  day  named  in  the 
Constitution,  and  does  not  adjourn  sooner,  the 
coming  of  that  day  does  not  interrupt  the  session. 
The  times  of  meeting  and  adjournment  may  be 
determined  by  Congress  for  itself,  subject  to 
these  restrictions  :  It  must  adjourn  without  day, 
when  the  two  years'  term  of  the  members  of 
the  House  expires ;  neither  House  can,  during  a 
session,  adjourn  for  more  than  three  days  with- 
out the  consent  of  the  other,  nor  to  any  other  place 
than  that  in  which  the  two  Houses  are  sitting  ; 
and  in  case  of  disagreement  between  the  two 
Houses  as  to  the  time  of  adjournment,  the  Presi- 
dent may  adjourn  them  to  such  time  as  he  shall 
think  proper. 

The  Constitution  does  not  fix  the  place  of  meet- 
ing of  Congress.     It  is  fixed  by  law.     The  only 
reference  in  the  Constitution  to  a  per- 
manent seat  of  Government  is  found 
in  the  clause  giving  to   Congress  the   exclusive 
power  of  legislation  "  over  such  District  (not  ex- 
ceeding ten  miles  square)  as  may,  by  cession  of 
particular  States,  and  the  acceptance  of  Congress, 
become  the  seat  of  the  Government  of  the  United 


THE   CONGRESS  37 

States."  The  first  Congress  assembled  in  New 
York  in  pursuance  of  a  resolution  of  the  last  Con- 
gress of  the  Confederation.  The  permanent  seat 
of  Government,  as  established  by  the  act  of  1790, 
is  not  the  City  of  Washington,  in  the  restricted 
sense,  but  "all  that  part  of  the  territory  of  the 
United  States  included  within  the  present  limits 
of  the  District  of  Columbia."  a 

When  the  prevalence  of  a  contagious  disease  or 
other  circumstances  would  make  a  meeting  of  Con- 
gress at  the  seat  of  Government  dangerous  to  the 
health  or  lives  of  the  members,  the  law  authorizes 
the  President  to  assemble  Congress  at  some  other 
place.2 

The  dates  for  the  election  of  Senators  and  Eep- 
resentatives  are  not  fixed  by  the  Constitution — that 
subject,  as  we  have  seen,  being  regulated  by  a  law  of 
Congress — nor  does  it  declare  when  the  terms  of 
six  and  two  years  respectively,  of  the  Senators  and 
Representatives,  shall  begin.  The  first  Congress 
was  appointed  to  assemble  on  the  first  Wednesday 
in  March,  1789,  which  happened  to  be  the  4th  day 
of  the  month,  and  that  date,  in  every  second  year, 
has  ever  since  been  recognized  as  the  why  terms  of 

.  Eepresenta  t  i  v  e  s 

day  when  the  old  Congress  expires  begin  March  4th. 
and  the  new  one  begins.     The  Act  of  1872  recog- 
nizes the  usage  by  providing  for  the  election  of 
1  Revised  Statutes,  Sec.  1795.  ?  Ibid.,  Sec.  34, 


38  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

Representatives  "  to  the  Congress  commencing  on 
the  4th  day  of  March  next  thereafter." 

Congress  must   adjourn   sine  die   on  the  3d  of 

March  in  each  second  year,  but  the  session  of  the 

it  is  March  3d  3d  is  usually  prolonged  until  twelve 

until     noon       of 

March  4th.  o  clock  meridian  of  the  4th.  On  the 

3d  of  March,  1851,  at  twelve  o'clock  midnight,  Mr. 
Mason,  a  Senator  from  Virginia,  whose  term  ex- 
pired on  that  day  and  whose  credentials  for  another 
term  were  on  file,  asked  to  have  the  oath  admin- 
istered to  him,  upon  the  ground  that  his  right  to  sit 
under  his  old  credentials  expired  at  that  hour.  The 
Senate  refused  to  allow  his  request,  and,  by  resolu- 
tion, declared  that  the  session  did  not  expire  until 
twelve  o'clock  meridian  on  the  4th.  The  new  Con- 
gress does  not  assemble  and  organize  until  the  first 
Monday  of  the  following  December,  unless  the 
President  calls  it  to  meet  at  an  earlier  date  in 
special  session. 

The  terms  of  the  Senators  begin  at  the  same  time 
as  those  of  the  members  of  the  House — March  4. 
The  term  of  office  of  the  President  is  also  fixed  by 
law  to  begin  on  March  4,  so  that  he  always  begins 
his  administration  with  a  new  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives— chosen  at  the  same  time  that  the  Presi- 
dential electors  were  chosen. 

The  Senate  at  the  expiration  of  every  Presiden- 
tial term  is  called,  by  a  proclamation  of  the  out- 


THE   CONGRESS  39 

going  President,  to  meet  in  special  session  imme- 
diately after  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  so  that 
the  members  of  the  new  Cabinet  and  other  impor- 
tant appointments  made  by  the  incoming  President 
may  be  promptly  confirmed. 

As  to  the  pay  of  Senators  and  members  of  the 
House  the  Constitution  only  declares  that  they 
shall  receive  a  compensation  for  their  Pay  of  senators 

,  .-111  and     Representa- 

services,  to  be  ascertained  by  law  and  tives. 
to  be  paid  out  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States. 
Under  the  Articles  of  Confederation  each  State 
maintained  its  own  delegates  to  the  Congress,  and 
in  the  Constitutional  Convention  there  was  a  strong 
sentiment  in  favor  of  continuing  that  plan.  A  mo- 
tion that  Senators  should  be  paid  by  their  respective 
States  was  lost  by  the  narrow  vote  of  five  States 
in  the  affirmative  to  six  in  the  negative.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  British  Parliament  now  receive  no  com- 
pensation for  their  services,  but  in  earlier  times  they 
did — the  per  diem  being  paid  by  the  shire  or  bor- 
ough. With  us  the  practice  of  paying  a  fixed  com- 
pensation to  members  of  legislative  bodies  has 
been  well-nigh  universal ;  but  the  rule  has  been  to 
make  the  compensation  so  small  as  not  to  make  the 
places  attractive  from  a  mere  money  point  of  view. 
The  pay  of  Senators  and  members  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  has  been  for  many  years  $5,000 
a  year.  In  1873  Congress  passed  a  law  increasing 


40  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

the  pay  to  $7,500  a  year,  and  making  the  increase 
relate  to  the  whole  term  of  the  members  of  that 

The  ••  salary     Congress,  then  just  expiring— March 
Grab."        3j  1873      A  great  p0plliar  outcry  was 

at  once  made,  and  those  who  had  supported  the  law 
were  denounced  as  "salary  grabbers."  The  pop- 
ular feeling  was  so  strong  that  in  the  ensuing  Jan- 
uary Congress  repealed  the  law,  and  restored  the 
old  salaries,  saving  only  the  increases  which  the  act 
gave  to  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court — from  $8,500 
to  $10,500  for  the  Chief  Justice,  and  from  $8,000  to 
$10,000  for  the  Associate  Justices,  and  to  the  Pres- 
ident from  $25,000  to  $50,000.  General  Grant 
entered  upon  his  second  term  the  day  after  the 
passage  of  the  new  salary  law,  and,  as  the  Constitu- 
tion provides  that  the  salary  of  the  President  shall 
"  neither  be  increased  nor  diminished  during  the 
period  for  which  he  shall  have  been  elected,"  Con- 
gress could  not,  as  to  him,  restore  the  old  salary. 
So  the  compensation  of  the  justices  of  the  Supreme 
Court  cannot  be  "diminished  during  their  contin- 
uance in  office,  "  and  Congress  was  without  power 
to  restore  the  old  salaries  as  to  the  Justices  then  in 
office.  It  is  quite  probable  that  if  the  members 
of  the  42d  Congress  had  not  made  the  increase  of 
salary  retroactive,  in  order  to  participate  in  their 
own  generosity,  the  advanced  salaries  would  have 
been  accepted  by  the  country  without  protest. 


THE   CONGRESS  41 

Each  Senator,  Bepresentative,  and  delegate  re- 
ceives mileage  at  the  rate  of  twenty  cents  per 
mile,  "  estimated  by  the  nearest  route 

Mileage. 

usually  travelled    in   going  to    and 
returning  from  each  regular  session  "  of  Congress. 
All  of  the  sessions  of  the  Senate  (legislative  as 
well  as  executive)  were  held  with  closed  doors  until 
the  second  session  of  the   3d  Con-     senate  at  first 

.  .          held   with  closed 

gress — except  during  the  discussion  doors. 
in  the  first  session  of  that  Congress  of  the  con- 
tested election  of  Albert  Gallatin  as  Senator  from 
Pennsylvania.  On  February  20,  1794,  the  Senate 
resolved  that  after  the  end  of  that  session  the  gal- 
leries should  be  opened  during  legislative  sittings, 
unless  otherwise  ordered. 

The  sessions  of  both  Houses  are  now  generally 
open,  and  large  galleries  give  the  public  access  to 
the  legislative  halls.  The  Constitu-  SeBBlonB  now 
tion  requires  each  House  to  keep  a  open' 
journal  of  its  proceedings,  and  from  time  to  time 
to  publish  the  same,  "  excepting  such  parts  as  may 
in  their  judgment  require  secrecy."  This,  of 
course,  implies  that  either  House  may  transact 
business  in  secret  session  when  the  public  interests 
require  it.  In  the  Senate  the  use  of  the  secret  ses- 
sion is  frequent  and  familiar.  The  Senate  rules 
provide  that  on  a  motion  made  and  seconded  to 
close  the  doors  on  the  discussion  of  any  matter  the 


42  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

floors  shall  be  closed  and  remain  closed  during 
such  discussion.  So  when  Executive  nominations 
or  treaties  are  under  consideration  the  galleries 
are  cleared  and  the  doors  closed — only  Senators, 
senate  Execu-  an(^  certain  necessary  officers  who  are 
3DS'  sworn  to  secrecy,  being  allowed  in 
the  chamber.  There  have  been  frequent  attempts 
made  to  abolish  the  secret  sessions  of  the  Senate, 
but  they  have  been  ineffectual.  These  sessions 
are  called  "  Executive  sessions,"  because  they  are 
almost  wholly  devoted  to  Executive  business — 
namely,  the  consideration  of  appointments  to  office 
and  foreign  treaties.  It  seems  quite  as  necessary 
and  appropriate  that  the  consultations  in  the 
Senate  as  to  appointments,  and  especially  as  to 
treaties,  should  be  confidential  as  that  the  confer- 
ences between  the  President  and  his  Cabinet,  or 
between  the  President  and  others  whom  he  may 
consult  about  the  same  matters,  should  be  so. 
The  rule  of  the  House,  as  to  secret  sessions,  is : 
"  Whenever  confidential  communications  are  re- 
ceived from  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
House. secret  or  whenever  the  Speaker  or  any 
sessions.  member  shall  inform  the  House  that 
he  has  communications  which  he  believes  ought 
to  be  kept  secret  for  the  present,  the  House  shall 
be  cleared  of  all  persons  except  the  members  and 
officers  thereof,  and  so  continue  during  the  read- 


THE   CONGEESS  43 

ing  of  such  communications,  the  debates  and  pro- 
ceedings thereon,  unless  otherwise  ordered  by  the 
House." 

Each  House  is  the  judge  of  the  election  and 
qualification  of  its  own  members.  A  contest  as 
to  which  of  two  persons  was  elected 

Contested  seats. 

to  a  seat  in  the  House  of  xiepresenta- 
tives  cannot  be  settled  by  the  Courts,  but  only  by 
a  vote  of  the  House.  In  the  54th  Congress  there 
were  thirty-three  seats  contested  in  the  House. 
The  hearing  of  these  cases  is  primarily  by  the 
Committee  of  Elections,  and  afterward  by  the 
House  upon  the  report  of  the  Committee.  It  has 
often  happened  that  a  contest  was  not  decided 
until  the  very  last  days  of  a  Congress,  and  that  the 
sitting  member,  whose  vote  may  have  determined 
an  important  question,  was  then  decided  never 
to  have  been  lawfully  elected  a  member  of  the 
House. 


CHAPTEE  III 
THE    CONGBESS 

ORGANIZATION  OF  EACH  HOUSE — OFFICERS — RULES — COMMITTEES 
— QUORUM — INTRODUCTION  AND  PASSAGE  OF  BILLS — PETITIONS 
—  REVENUE  BILLS  —  APPROPRIATIONS — TAXING  POWER  —  IN- 
TERNAL AND  FOREIGN  COMMERCE. 

THE  Constitution  names  the  presiding  officer  of 

the  House — "the  House  of  Representatives  shall 

choose  their  Speaker."    He  receives  a 

The  Speaker. 

salary  of  $8,000  a  year,  and  his  office 
is  one  of  the  first  importance  and  dignity.  He 
may,  under  the  rules,  appoint  a  Speaker  pro  tern- 
pore  for  one  day,  and,  in  case  of  illness,  for  ten  days, 
with  the  consent  of  the  House.  Under  the  rules 
which  generally  govern  the  House,  his  influence 
Great  power  of  in  promoting  or  defeating  the  pas- 

—  appoints   com- 

mittees.  sage  of  bills  before  the  House  is  very 

great.  He  appoints  all  of  the  committees,  and  in  a 
body  so  large  as  the  House  of  Eepresentatives  the 
fate  of  most  measures  is  settled  in  committee. 
The  Committee  on  Rules  consists  of  three  mem- 
bers, the  Speaker  being  one,  and  this  committee 
from  time  to  time  reports  special  orders  for  the 

consideration  of  particular  measures,  and  for  briug- 

44 


THE   CONGRESS  45 

ing  them  to  a  quick  vote.  It  may  often  happen 
that  a  bill  is  in  such  a  position  on  the  calendar 
that  it  is  impossible  to  bring  it  forward  for  pas- 
sage under  the  standing  rules  of  the  House,  and 
that  its  fate  hangs  upon  the  consent  or  refusal  of 
the  Committee  on  Rules  to  report  a  special  order 
for  its  consideration. 

The  Speaker,  being  a  member  of  the  House, 
may  vote  upon  all  questions,  but  the  rules  do  not 
require  him  to  vote  except  when  the  vote  is  by 
ballot,  or  when  his  vote  would  be  decisive  of  the 
question. 

No  member  can  speak  until  he  has  been  recog- 
nized by  the  Speaker,  and  when  two  or  more 
members  rise  at  once,  the  Speaker  ^cognMou  o£ 
names  the  member  who  is  to  speak.  members  by- 
The  question,  "Which  member  was  first  up?"  is 
never  put  to  the  House  as  it  sometimes  is  in  the 
English  Parliament.  As  a  result,  members  arrange 
with  the  Speaker  in  advance  for  recognition,  and  it 
is  not  thought  to  be  impertinent  for  the  Speaker  to 
inquire  what  the  member  desires  to  call  up.  There 
is  sometimes  much  fuming  if  the  Speaker  refuses 
to  allow  a  bill  to  be  called  up,  but  this  ancient 
and  necessary  rule  abides ;  for,  while  each  mem- 
ber would  like  to  get  up  his  own  bill,  he  does  not 
fail  to  see  that  utter  confusion  would  result  if  any 
member  could  call  up  anything  at  any  time.  The 


46  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

rules  are  made  by  the  House ;  the  restraints  are 
self-imposed;  the  Speaker  is  chosen  and  maybe 
deposed.  He  must  keep  a  majority  with  him. 
Leadership  is  essential,  and  liberty  is  saved  by 
the  reserved  power  to  change  leaders.  In  the 
British  Parliament  the  Ministry  exercises  a  strong 
leadership.  The  House  of  Commons  can  change 
leaders  at  its  pleasure — but  there  are  always 
leaders. 

Speaking  of  the  English  system,  Mr.  Bagehot 
says : 

"  Change  your  leader  if  you  will,  take  another  if 

you  will ;  but  obey  No.  1  while  you  serve  No.  1, 

and  obey  No.  2  when  you  have  gone 

English  system. 

over  to  No.  2.  The  penalty  of  not 
doing  so  is  the  penalty  of  impotence;  it  is  not 
that  you  will  not  be  able  to  do  any  good,  but  you 
will  not  be  able  to  do  anything  at  all.  If  every- 
body does  what  he  thinks  right,  there  will  be  six 
hundred  and  fifty-seven  amendments  to  every 
motion,  and  none  of  them  will  be  carried,  or  the 
motion  either."  l 

The  Vice-President  is  by  the  Constitution  made 
the  "  President  of  the  Senate,"  and  in  his  absence 

The  President  of     a   President  pro   tempore  is   chosen 
the  senate.       from  among  the  Senators.     The  con- 
trast  between  the   powers    and  influence   of   the 
1  Bagehot's  Works,  vol.  4,  p.  165. 


THE   CONGRESS  47 

President  of  the  Senate  and  those  of  the  Speaker 
of  the  House  is  very  great.  The  Senate  appoints 
its  own  committees  by  resolution.  A  caucus  com- 
mittee of  Senators  of  the  majority  party  arranges 
an  assignment  of  the  Senators  of  that  party  on  the 
standing  committees,  taking,  of  course,  a  majority 
of  each  committee  and  the  chairmanship,  and  this 
is  submitted  to  a  party  caucus  for  confirmation. 
A  caucus  of  the  minority  party  assigns  the  Sena- 
tors of  that  party  to  their  committee  places,  and 
when  this  has  been  done  a  resolution  of  the  Sen- 
ate establishes  the  committees.  The  Vice-Presi- 
dent  has  no  influence  in  directing  the  order  of 
business,  and  no  vote  except  when  the  Senate  is 
equally  divided ;  then  he  may  give  the  casting 
vote.  He  is  not  heard  in  debate — as  the  Speaker 
may  be. 

The  President  of  the  Senate  must  recognize  the 
Senator  who  first  addresses  him  ;  he  has  no  dis- 
cretion, and  any  inquiry  by  him  as  to  the  purposes 
of  the  Senator  would  be  indignantly  resented. 
The  constitutional  presiding  officer  of  the  Senate, 
the  Vice-President,  is  not  chosen  by  the  body,  and 
may  belong  to  the  minority  party  in  the  Senate. 
In  the  nature  of  things  he  cannot  be  a  leader, 
and  the  powers  of  a  President  pro  tempore,  who  is 
chosen  by  the  body,  could  not  well  be  made  larger 
than  those  of  the  permanent  President.  The  ma- 


48  THIS   COUNTRY    OF   OUE8 

jority  of  the  Committee  on  Bules  is  of  course  of 
the  majority  party,  but  there  is  no  previous  ques- 
NO  cisture  in  ^ion — no  °16ture  of  any  kind — and 
so  no  way  of  securing  the  adoption 
of  a  special  rule  to  bring  a  question  to  a  vote.  Any 
Senator  can  call  up  anything  at  almost  any  time 
and  speak  upon  it,  and  a  resolute  minority  can  al- 
ways thwart  the  purposes  of  the  majority.  This 
is  not  a  satisfactory  condition,  and  strongly  tends 
to  make  the  Senate  unsatisfactory. 

A  majority  of  each  House,  under  the  Constitu- 
tion, constitutes  a  quorum  for  the  transaction  of 
what  makee  a  general  business.  But,  when  the 

quorum.  House  is  engaged  in  electing  a  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  under  Article  XII.  of 
the  Constitution,  a  quorum  consists  of  "a  mem- 
ber or  members  from  two-thirds  of  the  States  ;  " 
and,  when  the  Senate,  under  the  same  article,  is 
engaged  in  electing  a  Vice-President,  a  quorum 
consists  of  "  two-thirds  of  the  whole  number  of 
Senators."  There  has  been  much  dispute  whether 
a  majority  of  the  House  was  to  be  taken  as  mean- 
ing a  majority  of  all  the  members  who  might 
under  the  law  be  elected,  or  only  a  majority  of  the 
actual  members — taking  no  account  of  vacancies. 
The  latter  view  has  probably  the  stronger  support 
in  the  Congressional  precedents.  When  the  House 
of  Representatives  is  in  Committee  of  the  Whole 


THE   CONGRESS  49 

one  hundred  members  constitute  a  quorum.  If  a 
quorum  is  not  present,  and  that  fact  is  disclosed, 
business  must  stop  until  a  quorum  is  secured. 
But  the  members  present  are  empowered  by  the 
Constitution  to  adjourn  from  day  to  day  and  "  to 
compel  the  attendance  of  absent  members,  in  such 
manner,  and  under  such  penalties  as  each  House 
may  provide."  A  great  deal  of  business  is  done 
in  both  the  Senate  and  House  when  a  quorum  is 
not  present,  the  absence  of  a  quorum  not  having 
been  officially  disclosed  by  a  count  or  a  roll-call, 
and  the  point  of  "  no  quorum  "  not  having  been 
raised. 

Until  the  51st  Congress  a  quorum  of  the  House 
meant  in  practice  a  voting  quorum,  no  account  being 
taken  of  members  present,  but  not  vot-  Now  in  the 
ing.  '  In  that  Congress,  before  rules  ^taSTo^t- 
had  been  adopted,  and  while  the  House 
was  proceeding  under  general  parliamentary  law, 
a  roll-call  having  failed  to  disclose  the  presence 
of  a  quorum,  the  Speaker  (Mr.  Reed)  counted  the 
members  present  but  not  voting,  and  decided  that 
these  with  the  voting  members  constituted  a 
quorum.  This  just  and  reasonable  practice  was 
incorporated  into  the  rules  of  the  House;  and 
while,  in  the  52d  Congress,  there  was  a  return  to 
the  old  rule,  the  53d,  54th  and  55th  Congresses 
have  adopted  the  rule  of  counting  members  pres- 
4 


50  THIS   COUNTRY    OF   OUES 

ent,  but  not  voting,  to  make  a  quorum,  and  that 
rule  is  now  probably  permanently  a  part  of  the 
Not  BO  m  the  House  procedure.  The  Senate  has 
not  adopted  this  rule ;  and  in  that 
body  voting  Senators  only  are  counted.  The  Su- 
preme Court  has,  since  the  adoption  of  the  prac- 
tice by  the  House  of  counting  members  present 
but  not  voting,  held  that  "  when  a  majority  are 
present  the  House  is  in  a  position  to  do  business," 
and  that  a  rule  of  the  House  providing  for  count- 
ing members  present  but  not  voting,  and  adding 
the  number  of  such  to  the  number  of  those  voting 
to  determine  the  presence  of  a  quorum,  is  valid. 
It  was  also  held  that  a  quorum  being  present  the 
act  of  a  majority  of  the  quorum  is  the  act  of  the 
House.1 

One-fifth  of  the  members  present,  of  either 
House,  are  empowered  by  the  Constitution  to  de- 
Demand  of  yeas  mand  a  vote  bJ  Jeas  and  nays,  and 
the  vote  must  be  recorded  in  the  jour- 
nal which  each  House  is  required  to  keep  of  its 
proceedings.  This  journal  does  not  include  the 
debates,  which  are,  however,  published  in  full  daily 
in  the  "  Congressional  Record." 

The  Senators  and  Representatives  are  privileged 
from  arrest,  except  for  treason,  felony,  or  breach  of 
the  peace,  while  in  attendance  upon  their  respective 
1  United  States  v.  Ballin,  144  U.  S.,  1. 


THE   CONGKESS  51 

Houses,  and  while  going  to  and  returning  from  the 
meetings  of  Congress.  A  member  may  be  pun- 
ished by  the  House  to  which  he  belongs  for  dis- 
orderly behavior,  and  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  the 
House  may  be  expelled.  In  order  to  remove  from 
Members  of  Congress  the  temptation  to  create 
offices  for  themselves  the  Constitution  makes  them 
ineligible  during  the  term  for  which  they  were 
elected  to  appointment  to  any  office  which  was 
created  or  the  emoluments  of  which  were  increased 
during  such  term.  Senators  and  Representatives 
are  also  ineligible  to  the  office  of  Elector  of  Presi- 
dent and  Vice-President.  And  no  person  can, 
while  holding  an  office  under  the  United  States, 
be  a  member  of  either  House. 

When  a  Senator  is  elected  and  receives  his  cer- 
tificate of  election  from  the  Governor  he  usually 
causes  it  to  be  presented  to  the  Sen-  organizing  the 
ate  by  his  colleague  before  his  own 
term  begins.  The  certificate  is  received  and  filed, 
if  regular  in  form  ;  but  if  objection  is  made  to  the 
certificate,  or  the  election  is  in  any  way  chal- 
lenged, the  questions  arising  are  referred  to  the 
Committee  of  Privileges  and  Elections  for  examina- 
tion. The  Senate  is  always  an  organized  body. 
Its  presiding  officer — the  Vice-President — calls 
the  Senate  to  order  at  the  assembling  of  a  new 
Congress,  and  the  Secretary,  Sergeant-at-Arms, 


52  THIS   COUNTRY   OF  OUES 

and  other  officers  and  clerks,  who  hold  office  dur- 
ing the  pleasure  of  the  Senate,  resume  their 
duties.  If  the  Vice-President  is  not  present  when 
the  Senate  assembles,  the  Secretary  of  the  Senate, 
or,  in  his  absence,  the  Chief  Clerk,  performs  the 
duties  of  the  chair,  pending  the  election  of  a  Pres- 
ident pro  tempore.  The  President  pro  tempo-re  is 
entitled  to  call  any  Senator  to  the  chair,  but  such 
a  designation  cannot  extend  beyond  an  adjourn- 
ment, unless  unanimous  consent  is  given.  If  the 
session  is  a  regular  one  the  presiding  officer  raps 
for  order  and  announces  that  the  Senate  is  in  ses- 
sion pursuant  to  law.  If  the  session  is  a  called  or 
special  one  the  proclamation  of  the  President  con- 
vening the  Congress,  or  the  Senate,  as  the  case 
may  be,  is  read  and  entered  upon  the  journal. 
The  Senators-elect  are  escorted  in  groups  of  four 
(each  usually  by  his  own  colleague)  to  the  desk, 
and  the  oath  of  office  is  administered  by  the  Pres- 
ident of  the  Senate. 

The  rules  of  the  Senate  remain  in  force  from 
one  Congress  to  another,  save  as  they  may  from 
time  to  time  be  modified.  There  is,  however,  a 
body  of  joint  rules  of  the  Senate  and  House  of 
Representatives  ;  and,  as  the  concurrence  of  the 
House  is  necessary,  these  must  be  re-enacted  at 
the  beginning  of  every  Congress. 

In   the   House   the  process   of    organization   is 


THE   CONGRESS  53 

quite  different  from  that  of  the  Senate.  There 
are  no  hold-over  members  or  officers,  save  that  cer- 
tain temporary  duties  are  devolved  Organizlllg  ths 
by  law  upon  the  clerk  of  the  next 
preceding  House.  The  law  provides  that  he  shall 
make  a  roll  of  the  Representatives-elect,  placing 
thereon  the  names  of  those  persons  whose  creden- 
tials show  that  they  were  regularly  elected.  The 
practice  is  that  when  the  hour  of  assembling  ar- 
rives the  clerk  of  the  preceding  House  calls  the 
roll,  made  up  from  the  credentials  filed  with  him, 
and,  if  a  quorum  is  present,  announces  that  fact, 
and  that  the  first  business  in  order  is  the  election 
of  a  Speaker.  Nominations  for  that  office  are 
then  made,  and,  under  the  supervision  of  tellers, 
named  by  the  clerk  from  among  the  members,  the 
roll  is  called  by  him,  and  the  result  announced. 
The  oath  of  office  is  administered  to  the  Speaker 
by  a  member  of  the  House,  the  habit  being  to  de- 
volve that  duty  upon  the  member  who  has  had  the 
longest  continuous  service — the  "  Father  of  the 
House,"  as  he  is  called.  The  members  from  each 
State  are  then  called,  and  the  oath  of  office  is  ad- 
ministered to  them  by  the  Speaker.  The  adoption 
of  a  body  of  rules  for  the  House  has  not  always 
been  an  easy  matter,  and  sometimes  great  delay 
and  much  excitement  have  attended  the  work. 
Often,  by  resolution,  the  rules  of  the  last  House 


54  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

are  adopted  to  govern  the  proceedings  until  a  new 
code  is  prepared  and  receives  the  concurrence  of 
the  House.  If  some  such  expedient  is  not  adopted 
the  House  proceeds  without  any  rules,  except  so 
far  as  the  general  rules  of  parliamentary  law  may 
be  applicable. 

The  House  then  proceeds  to  elect  its  other  prin- 
cipal officers,  viz.,  a  clerk,  a  sergeant-at-arms,  a 
officers  of  the  chaplain,  a  door-keeper  and  a  post- 
master. The  House,  at  its  first  ses- 
sion (1789),  ordered  that  a  suitable  symbol  of  office 
be  provided  for  the  Sergeant-at-Arms,  to  be  borne 
by  him  when  executing  his  office.  This  order  was 
executed  by  the  Speaker  by  procuring  a  mace. 
The  staff  of  the  mace  is  a  representation  of  the 
Roman  fasces  and  is  surmounted  by  a  globe  and 
an  eagle  in  silver.  It  stands  during  the  sessions 
of  the  House  at  the  right  of  the  Speaker,  and  is 
carried  by  the  Sergeant-at-Arms  when  he  is  called 
upon  to  enforce  order  on  the  floor. 

When  the  two  Houses  have  organized,  and  a 
quorum  is  present,  each  by  resolution  directs  its 
secretary  or  clerk  to  notify  the  other  of  that  fact. 
And  in  like  manner,  the  Senate,  when  it  chooses  a 
President  pro  tempore,  and  the  House,  when  it 
chooses  a  Speaker,  certifies  each  to  the  other,  and 
each  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  the 
name  of  its  presiding  officer.  A  joint  committee 


THE   CONGRESS  55 

of  the  two  Houses  is  appointed  to  wait  upon  the 
President,  and  to  inform  him  that  a  quorum  of  each 
House  is  assembled,  and  that  Congress  is  ready  to 
receive  any  communication  that  he  may  be  pleased 
to  make. 

The  seats  in  the  Senate  are  assigned  as  follows : 
The  Senator  who  first  expresses  a  preference  for  a 
vacant  seat,  or  one  to  become  vacant,  Asgi  ment  of 
gets  it.  When  a  seat  is  thus  assigned 
the  Senator  may  retain  it  so  long  as  he  remains  a 
member  of  the  Senate.  In  the  House  the  seats  are 
assigned  by  lot  at  the  beginning  of  each  Congress. 

When  the  committees  are  constituted  the  Houses 
are  ready  for  the  transaction  of  business.  Legisla- 
tive measures  are  chiefly  initiated  by  the  introduc- 
tion of  bills  by  individual  Senators  or  Representa- 
tives. In  the  Senate  the  presentation  of  petitions 
and  memorials  and  the  introduction  of  bills  and 
joint  resolutions  are  two  of  the  orders  petitionB  _  In_ 
called  by  the  presiding  officer  each  troductionofbUlB- 
morning,  and  the  Senators,  each  as  he  may  secure 
recognition,  present  such  petitions  or  bills  as  they 
may  desire.  In  presenting  a  petition  the  Senator 
states  briefly  its  purport  and  asks  its  reference  to 
the  appropriate  committee.  When  a  bill  is  offered 
it  is  carried  by  a  page  to  the  clerk's  desk,  the  title 
is  read,  and  an  appropriate  reference  is  ordered  by 
the  presiding  officer — unless  the  Senate  by  a  vote 


56  THIS   COUNTEY   OF   OUES 

itself  directs  the  reference.  This  general  practice 
as  to  the  presentation  of  petitions  and  the  intro- 
duction of  bills  prevailed  until  recently  in  the 
House  also.  But,  for  the  saving  of  time,  the  new 
rules  of  the  House  provide  for  the  delivery  to  the 
clerk  of  petitions  and  bills  of  a  private  nature,  the 
name  of  the  member  and  the  reference  desired  be- 
ing endorsed  thereon  ;  and  of  all  other  bills,  memo- 
rials, and  resolutions  to  the  Speaker,  to  be  by  him 
referred  to  the  appropriate  committees.  The  fact 
of  presentation  and  the  reference  made  are  entered 
on  the  journal  and  published  daily  in  The  Record. 
The  reference  may,  of  course,  be  changed  by 
the  House.  All  bills  and  resolutions  are  num- 
bered, printed,  and  laid  upon  the  desks  of  the 
members.  The  numbers  begin  anew  in  each  House 
with  each  Congress,  thus :  "  S.  1,"  or  "  H.  E.  1." 

When  a  bill  passed  by  one  House  is  passed  by 
the  other  with  amendments,  and  the  former  does 

Passing  of  bills  no^  concur  in  ^ne  amendments,  this 
non  -  concurrence  is  announced  and 
a  Committee  of  Conference  is  asked  for.  Con- 
ference committees  usually  consist  of  three 
members  from  each  House.  They  constitute 
really  two  committees,  and  each  votes  by  a  ma- 
jority. These  committees  report  from  time  to 
time  their  agreements  or  disagreements  to  their 
respective  Houses,  and  take  the  orders  of  those 


THE   CONGRESS  57 

bodies  until  an  agreement  is  reached,  or  a  final 
failure  to  agree  is  disclosed.  The  Houses  com- 
municate their  proceedings  each  to 
the  other  by  messages  delivered  by 
the  Secretary  or  Clerk,  thus  :  The  Secretary  of  the 
Senate  appears  in  the  House,  is  announced  by  the 
doorkeeper,  addresses  the  Speaker,  and  having 
been  recognized,  delivers  his  message,  as :  "I 
am  directed  by  the  Senate  to  inform  the  House 

that  it  has  passed  Senate  bill  No. [giving  the 

title]  and  that  the  concurrence  of  the  House  therein 
is  respectfully  requested."  The  bill  is  sent  to  the 
Speaker's  desk  and  the  message  is  entered  in  the 
journal.  If  the  bill  is  passed  by  the  House  it  is  car- 
ried back  to  the  Senate  by  the  clerk  of  the  House 
with  a  message  announcing  the  action  taken.  It  is 
then  enrolled,  signed  by  the  President 

J  Signing  of  bills. 

of  the  Senate,  the  fact  of  signing  being 
announced  to  the  Senate  and  entered  on  the  jour- 
nal, is  earned  again  to  the  House,  signed  by  the 
Speaker,  the  fact  of  signing  being  announced  and 
entered  as  in  the  Senate,  and  is  then  ready  to  be 
sent  to  the  President  for  his  approval.  If  the  Pres- 
ident approves  the  bill  he  notifies  the  House  in 
which  the  bill  originated  of  his  approval,  and  the 
fact  is  by  that  House  entered  on  its  journal  and 
communicated  to  the  other  House.  A  complete 
history  of  the  bill  is  thus  preserved  in  the  journals. 


58  THIS   COUNTRY   OF  OURS 

Revenue  bills,  such  as  a  general  tariff  bill,  and 
bills  appropriating  money  for  the  support  of 

Revenue  bills-  tlle  Government,  originate  in  com- 
appropriations.  mjttee>  The  Treasury  Department 

collects  from  all  the  other  Departments  es- 
timates of  the  amount  of  money  needed  for  the 
next  fiscal  year,  and,  adding  the  estimates  for  his 
own  Department,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
compiles  them  in  a  book  of  estimates,  which  is 
printed  and  sent  to  Congress  at  the  beginning  of 
each  regular  session.  These  estimates  are  the 
basis  of  the  appropriation  bills;  but  the  com- 
mittees do  not  follow  the  estimates  closely — now 
refusing  to  give  anything  for  a  specified  object, 
and  now  giving  much  less  than  is  asked.  If  too 
little  has  been  given  a  deficiency  bill  at  the  next 
session  supplies  the  lack. 

In  the  House  the  Committee  on  Ways  and 
Means  takes  control  of  all  revenue  bills,  and  in 
the  Senate  the  Finance  Committee  has  them  in 
charge.  Until  recently  the  Committees  on  Appro- 
priations of  the  House  and  Senate  had  charge  of 
all  general  appropriation  bills,  but  now  in  the 
House  that  committee  has  charge  only  of  the 
appropriations  for  legislative,  executive,  and  ju- 
dicial expenses,  for  sundry  civil  expenses,  for  forti- 
fications and  coast  defences,  for  the  District  of 
Columbia,  for  pensions,  and  for  all  deficiencies ; 


THE   CONGKESS  59 

while  the  other  appropriation  bills  are  prepared 
by  the  committees  having  general  charge  of  the 
legislation  relating  to  the  department  appropri- 
ated for ;  thus,  the  army  appropriation  bill  by 
the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  the  naval  appro- 
priation bill  by  the  Committee  on  Naval  Affairs, 
etc.  In  the  Senate  the  Committee  on  Appropri- 
ations still  has  charge  of  all  general  appropri- 
ation bills,  except  those  for  rivers  and  harbors, 
which  are  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Com- 
merce. 

A  bill  not  passed  by  both  Houses  fails  at  the 
end  of  the  Congress,  and  must  be  again  intro- 
duced in  the  next  Congress,  if  its  further  consid- 
eration is  desired. 

Only  a  few  of  the  specified  powers  of  Congress 
can  be  mentioned  here.  A  very  important  ex- 
clusive function  is  given  to  the  Revenue  MI  IB 

TT  «   *  11     i  MI       *  •   •  must  originate  in 

House :  "  All  bills  for  raising  rev-  the  House, 
enue  shall  originate  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives ;  but  the  Senate  may  propose  or  concur  with 
amendments  as  on  other  bills."  So  runs  Section 
7  of  Article  1.  There  was  much  discussion  in  the 
Convention  over  this  clause.  After  much  debate 
the  following  resolution  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of 
five  States  to  four  : 

Resolved,  That  all  bills  for  raising  or  appropriating 
money,  and  for  fixing  the  salaries  of  officers  of  the  Gov- 


60  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OUES 

ernment  of  the  United  States,  shall  originate  in  the  fir^t 
branch  of  the  Legislature  of  the  United  States,  and  shal  1 
not  be  altered  or  amended  in  the  second  branch  ;  and 
that  no  money  shall  be  drawn  from  the  public  treasury 
but  in  pursuance  of  appropriations  to  be  originated  in 
the  first  branch. ' 

This  resolution  left  to  the  Senate  only  the  power 
to  negative  bills  for  raising  revenue,  bills  making 
appropriations,  and  bills  fixing  salaries.  It  could 
not  propose  the  expenditure  of  the  smallest  sum 
from  the  public  treasury,  nor  the  modification  of 
a  tariff  bill  sent  to  it,  in  the  smallest  particular. 
Its  power  would  have  been  like  that  of  the  Presi- 
dent, to  approve  or  to  veto,  save  that  the  veto 
was  absolute,  for  no  bill  could  become  a  law  that 
the  Senate  rejected.  Mr.  Wilson,  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, said  in  the  Convention  that,  as  there  were 
to  be  two  strings  to  the  public  purse,  one  in  the 
hands  of  the  Senate  and  the  other  in  the  House, 
"  of  what  importance  could  it  be  which  untied 
first,  which  last?"  Subsequently  the  resolution 
was  reconsidered  by  a  vote  of  four  States  to 
seven. 

The  clause  as  adopted,  it  will  be  observed,  gives 

to  the  House  the  exclusive  power  of  originating 

"bills  for  raising  revenue,"  but  leaves  the  Senate 

full  powers  of   amendment.      A   bill   for  raising 

'  Elliot's  Debates,  vol.  5,  p.  316. 


THE   CONGRESS  61 

revenue  must  first  pass  the  House,  but  when  it 
reaches  the  Senate  it  may  be  so  amended  as  to  be 
practically  a  new  bill. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  as  originally  proposed 
the  clause  embraced  all  bills  appropriating  money 
from  the  Treasury,  and  all  bills  for  fixing  official 
salaries,  and  that  these  provisions  were  stricken 
out.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  I  think,  Origjn  of  0_ 
that  appropriation  bills  and  bills  fix-  priation  bl"8- 
ing  salaries  may  constitutionally  originate  in  the 
Senate.  Many  bills  appropriating  money  do,  in 
fact,  originate  there,  such  as  bills  granting  pen- 
sions, for  the  payment  of  claims,  etc. ;  but  a  prac- 
tice has  grown  up  that  all  of  the  general  appro- 
priation bills,  such  as  the  Legislative,  Executive, 
and  Judicial,  the  Army  and  Navy,  the  Sundry  Civil, 
the  Deficiency,  the  Indian,  etc.,  shall  originate  in 
the  House.  This  practice  has  become  so  settled 
that  the  House  would  probably  refuse  to  consider 
a  general  appropriation  bill  sent  to  it  by  the 
Senate. 

Justice  Miller,  in  his  lectures  upon  the  Constitu- 
tion, remarks  upon  the  singular  fact  that  so  little 
comment  is  to  be  found  upon  this  clause  of  the 
Constitution,  and  though  himself  holding  that 
under  our  system  the  origination  of  appropriation 
bills  is  not  within  the  exclusive  power  of  the  House, 
he  adds  that  "  this  has  been  the  practice  now  for 


62  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

so  long  a  time  that  it  may  be  doubted  whether  it 
will  be  seriously  questioned."  l 

Washington     scrupulously    recognized    in    his 

addresses  the  exclusive  power  of  the  House  to 

Washington     originate  revenue  bills.     In  his  first 

formofaSdress.     inaugural  address  he  introduced  the 

statement  of  his  purpose  to  have  the  estimates  for 
the  pay  of  the  President  limited  to  his  actual 
expenditures  by  saying  that  the  request  "  will  be 
most  properly  addressed  to  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives." In  his  annual  addresses  also,  deliv- 
ered to  a  joint  assembly  of  the  two  Houses,  all 
suggestions  as  to  revenue  were  introduced  by 
the  specific  address:  "Gentlemen  of  the  House 
of  Representatives." 

One  of  the  most  important  and  necessary  powers 
of  government  is  the  taxing  power.  It  was  essen- 

The  taxing      ^a^  that  *^e  Unrted  States  should 

power  limitations.   haye   guch  powerS)  an(J  it   was  desir. 

able  that  its  revenues  should  be  as  far  as  possible 
derived  from  sources  that  the  States  could  not  fully 
or  at  all  avail  themselves  of.  Duties  on  imports 
are  essentially  such.  It  was  essential,  too,  that  the 
regulation  of  foreign  commerce  should  be  single 
and  uniform,  and  obviously  just  that  the  imposts 
laid  upon  such  commerce  should  be  used  for  the 
benefit  of  all  the  States.  So  the  excise  taxes  now 
1  Miller  on  the  Constitution,  p.  204. 


THE   CONGRESS  63 

laid  on  whiskey  and  tobacco,  and  formerly  upon 
many  other  articles,  are  taxes  that  are  not  fully 
available  to  the  States.  They  must  be  uniform  in 
the  whole  country,  so  that  the  manufacturer  may 
not  find  the  burden  lighter  in  one  State  than  in 
another.  In  practice,  these  sources  of  revenue  are 
adequate  for  ordinary  times.  But  they  might 
prove  inadequate  to  the  national  necessities,  espe- 
cially in  war  times.  It  was  essential  that  in  times 
of  national  stress  all  of  the  resources  of  the  country 
should  be  subject  to  the  taxing  power  of  the  nation. 
Section  8  of  Article  1  provides  that,  "  The  Congress 
shall  have  power  to  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties, 
imposts,  and  excises,  to  pay  the  debts  and  provide 
for  the  common  defence  and  general  welfare  of  the 
United  States."  The  scope  of  the  taxing  power 
is  limited  by  a  declaration  of  the  purposes  for 
which  it  may  be  used,  but  these  are  very  broadly 
stated.  And  there  are  also  several  limitations  as 
to  the  manner  of  exercising  it. 

It  is  provided  that  all  duties,  imposts,  and  excises 
shall  be  "uniform  throughout  the  United  States"; 
that  "no  capitation,  or  other  direct,  tax  shall  be 
laid,  unless  in  proportion  to  the  census  or  enumera- 
tion hereinbefore  directed  to  be  taken  " ;  that  "  no 
tax  or  duty  shall  be  laid  on  articles  exported  from 
any  State  " ;  that  "  no  preference  shall  be  given  by 
any  regulation  of  commerce  or  revenue  to  the  ports 


64  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

of  one  State  over  those  of  another ;  nor  shall  ves- 
sels bound  to,  or  from,  one  State,  be  obliged  to 
enter,  clear,  or  pay  duties  in  another."  The  power 
to  lay  imposts  or  duties  on  imports  or  exports, 
except  such  as  are  absolutely  necessary  for  exe- 
cuting their  inspection  laws,  is  expressly  denied  to 
the  States,  unless  Congress  consents,  and  then  the 
net  revenue  derived  is  to  be  paid  into  the  United 
States  Treasury. 

Duties,  imposts,  and  excises  must  be  uniform, 
but  they  have  no  relation  to  population.  A  distil- 
ler of  spirits  in  Indiana  cannot  be  required  by  the 
United  States  to  pay  a  higher  tax  per  gallon  than 
is  exacted  of  a  distiller  in  Illinois ;  but  it  may 
happen  that  the  aggregate  tax  collected  in  Illinois 
is  many  times  greater  than  the  aggregate  collected 
in  Indiana,  because  of  the  larger  production  of 
spirits  in  the  former  State.  But  as  to  "  capitation 
or  other  direct  taxes "  the  Constitution  provides 
that  they  shall  not  be  laid  "  unless  in  proportion 
to  the  census  or  enumeration  hereinbefore  directed 
to  be  taken."  The  United  States,  when  it  resorts 
to  direct  taxation,  first  fixes  the  amount  to  be 
raised,  divides  that  sum  by  the  total  population  of 
the  United  States,  to  ascertain  how  much  it  will  be 
per  capita,  and  then  multiplies  this  per  capita  by 
the  population  of  each  State.  The  result  deter- 
mines how  much  the  people  of  each  State  must  pay 


THE   CONGRESS  65 

The  distinction  between  a  direct  and  an  indirect 
tax  is  not  always  easily  taken.  In  the  recent  In- 
come Tax  case  the  Supreme  Court  Direct  and  indi. 
held  that  a  tax  on  incomes  is  a 
tax  on  the  property  from  which  the  income  is  de' 
rived,  and  therefore  a  direct  tax. 

The  power  given  to  Congress  "  to  regulate  com- 
merce with  foreign  nations,  and  among  the  several 
States,  and  with  the  Indian  tribes,"  is  one  of  the 
broadest  and  most  essential  of  its  enumerated 
powers.  The  commerce  "  among  the  commerce 

am  on  g      the 

several  States  " — the  carrying  of  mer-  states. 
chandise  and  passengers  from  one  State  into  an- 
other, by  the  railroads  and  canals,  and  by  river, 
lake,  and  coast-wise  vessels — has  grown  to  enor- 
mous proportions,  greatly  surpassing  our  foreign 
commerce.  The  great  bulk  of  our  exports  and  im- 
ports becomes  part  of  this  interstate  commerce,  in 
its  transit  to  or  from  the  great  sea-ports.  Nearly 
all  railway  passenger  trains,  except  the  suburban 
trains — and  many  of  them — are  engaged  in  inter- 
state commerce.  Nearly  every  freight-train  has 
some  cars  billed  from  points  in  one  State  to  points 
in  another.  The  tracks,  engines,  and  cars  are  all 
instruments  of  this  commerce.  And  so  of  all  the 
steam-boats  on  the  Ohio,  the  Mississippi,  and 
other  rivers  that  traverse  more  than  one  State. 
Ferry-boats  become  agencies  of  interstate  com- 


66  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

merce  when  the  waters  they  traverse  divide  States. 
The  telegraph  also  is  an  agency  of  commerce  be- 
tween the  States.  The  exclusive  power  reserved 
to  Congress  to  regulate  this  commerce  and  the 
instruments  with  which  it  is  conducted  is  one 
of  ever-widening  application.  The  laws  for  the 
inspection  of  steam-vessels,  the  licensing  of  their 
Law8  regulating  officers,  requiring  certain  safety  ap- 
pliances, limiting  the  number  of  pas- 
sengers that  may  be  carried,  requiring  air-brakes 
and  automatic  couplers  on  freight-cars,  and  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Law  are  all  exercises  of 
the  power  of  Congress  to  regulate  commerce.  A 
State  may  regulate  fares  and  freights  from  one  point 
in  the  State  to  another,  but  it  cannot  lay  any  re- 
straint or  regulation  upon  the  carrying  of  pas- 
sengers or  freights  out  of  the  State  into  another 
State,  or  from  another  State  into  it.  If  a  railroad 
is  engaged  in  interstate  commerce  its  tracks  in 
every  State  in  which  they  are  laid  are  a  part  of  the 
interstate  line,  and  as  such  are,  in  a  measure,  sub- 
ject to  be  regulated  by  Congress,  and  may  be  pro- 
tected by  the  National  Government. 

This  power  over  these  agencies  of  commerce 
is  further  broadened  by  the  fact  that  they  are 
also  the  agencies  of  the  postal  service.  The 
statutes  of  the  United  States  declare  all  the 
waters  of  the  United  States,  during  the  time  the 


THE   CONGKESS  67 

mail  is  carried  thereon ;  all  railroads  or  parts  of 
railroads  which  are  now  or  hereafter  may  be  in 
operation ;  all  canals  and  plank-roads,  Mail  routes  and 
during  the  time  the  mail  is  carried 
thereon,  to  be  "established  post-roads."  The 
roads  of  commerce  are  also  "post-roads";  and 
the  obstructing  or  retarding  of  the  passage  of  the 
mails  over  such  routes  is  an  offence  against  the 
laws  of  the  United  States,  punishable  in  the  Courts 
of  the  United  States.  In  like  manner  the  obstruc- 
tion of  the  transportation  of  passengers  or  mer- 
chandise from  one  State  to  another,  is  an  offence 
against  the  United  States,  and  if  accompanied  with 
violence  is  a  breach  of  the  peace  of  the  United 
States. 

Most  of  the  other  great  powers  of  Congress  have 
been  alluded  to  in  a  preceding  chapter.  After 
their  enumeration  this  further  comprehensive  grant 
is  made  :  "To  make  all  laws  which  shall  be  neces- 
sary and  proper  for  carrying  into  execution  the 
foregoing  powers,  and  all  other  powers  vested  by 
this  Constitution  in  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  or  in  any  department  or  officer  thereof." 
Some  limitations  are  then  imposed,  but  it  is  not 
necessary  to  enumerate  them  here. 


CHAPTER  IV 
THE    PEESIDENT 

A.  SINGLE  EXECUTIVE—  CABINET  OFFICERS—  TERM  OF  THE  PRESI- 
DENT —  MANNER  OF  CHOOSING  —  ELECTORAL  COLLEGE  —  ELEC- 
TIONS BY  HOUSE  AND  SENATE. 

THE  Second  Article  of  the  Constitution  deals 
with  the  Executive  Department  of  the  Govern- 
ment. It  declares  that  "  the  Executive  power 
shall  be  vested  in  a  President  of  the  United  States 
of  America,"  and  that  "he  shall  hold  his  office  dur- 
ing the  term  of  four  years."  These  conclusions 
were  not  arrived  at  in  the  convention  without  diffi- 
culty. Should  the  Executive  be  single  or  plural  — 
A  single  or  one  President  or  several  ?  Some  of 


plural  executive.       the     ^^    men    ^     the    convention 

wanted  a  plural  Executive.  One  President  too 
strongly  reminded  them  of  the  King  from  whose 
tyrannical  and  cruel  grasp  the  Colonies  had  just 
escaped.  Roger  Sherman,  of  Connecticut,  wished 
that  the  number  should  be  left  to  the  determina- 
tion of  Congress.  Edmund  Randolph,  of  Virginia, 
"strenuously  opposed  a  unity  in  the  Executive 
magistracy."  He  regarded  it  as  "  the  foetus  of 
monarchy."  And  on  the  final  vote  three  States  — 

68 


THE    PRESIDENT  69 

New  York,  Delaware  and  Maryland — voted  against 
the  proposition  that  the  Executive  consist  of  a  sin- 
gle person.  Experience  has  so  fully  justified  the 
conclusion  reached  by  the  convention  in  this  mat- 
ter, that  no  change  has  ever  been  suggested.  The 
incumbent  has  never  satisfied  every  one,  but  the 
discontented  have  never  sought  relief  by  giving 
him  a  double.  Executive  direction  should  always 
be  single.  When  anything  is  wrongly  done,  we 
must  be  able  to  put  a  hand  on  the  man  who  did  it. 
The  sense  of  responsibility  begets  carefulness,  and 
that  sense  is  never  so  perfect  as  when,  after  full 
consultation,  the  officer  must  go  alone  into  the 
chamber  of  decision.  In  all  of  the  recent  reform 
city  charters  this  principle  is  made  prominent — by 
giving  the  Mayor  the  power  to  appoint  the  city 
boards  and  officers,  and  so  making  him  responsible 
for  the  efficiency  of  the  city  government.  Two 
presidents  or  three,  with  equal  powers,  would  as 
surely  bring  disaster  as  three  generals  of  equal 
rank  and  command  in  a  single  army.  I  do  not 
doubt  that  this  sense  of  single  and  personal  re- 
sponsibility to  the  people  has  strongly  held  our 
Presidents  to  a  good  conscience,  and  to  a  high  dis- 
charge of  their  great  duties. 

It  was  proposed  in  the  convention  to  provide 
an  Executive  Council  that  should  exercise  a  meas- 
ure of  restraint  upon  the  acts  of  the  President; 


70  THIS   COUNTRY    OF   OUES 

but  the  suggestion  was  wisely  rejected.     A  many 

headed  Executive  must  necessarily  lack  that  vigor 

An  Executive  and  promptness  of  action   which   is 

Council  —  Cabinet  . 

officers.  often  a  condition  of  public  safety.     A 

distinguished  public  man  is  reported,  perhaps  er- 
roneously, to  have  very  recently  expressed  the  opin- 
ion that  each  Cabinet  officer  should  be  independent 
in  the  administration  of  his  department,  and  not 
subject  to  control  by  the  President.  The  adoption 
of  this  view  would  give  us  eight  Chief  Executives, 
exercising,  not  a  joint,  but  a  separate  control  of 
specified  subdivisions  of  the  Executive  power,  and 
would  leave  the  President,  in  whom  the  Constitu- 
tion says  "  the  Executive  power  shall  be  vested," 
no  function  save  that  of  appointing  these  eight 
Presidents.  It  would  be  a  farming-out  of  his  Con- 
stitutional powers.  It  is  not  intended  to  discuss 
here  the  true  relation  between  the  President  and 
his  Cabinet — that  subject  will  be  considered  in  its 
order — but  only  to  point  out  that  the  responsibility 
under  the  Constitution  for  the  Executive  admin- 
istration of  the  Government  in  all  its  branches  is 
devolved  upon  the  President.  A  Cabinet  inde- 
pendent, after  appointment,  of  the  Executive,  and 
not  subject,  as  in  England,  to  be  voted  out  by  the 
Legislature,  would  be  an  anomaly.  Mr.  Stevens, 
in  his  "  Sources  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  "  (p.  168),  gives  an  interesting  account  of  an 


THE   PRESIDENT  71 

interview  with  President  Hayes  from  notes  made 
at  the  time,  in  the  course  of  which  President  Hayes 
said  that 

In  matters  of  a  department,  he  gave  greater  weight 
to  the  opinion  of  the  Secretary  of  that  department,  if 
the  Secretary  opposed  his  own  views;  president  Hayes's 
but  on  two  occasions,  at  least,  he  had 
decided  and  carried  out  matters  against  the  wishes  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  department  affected.  He  had  done 
so  in  the  case  of  his  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  (Sherman), 
whose  opinion  he  usually  valued.  In  each  case,  know- 
ing the  certainty  of  diverse  views  from  the  Secretary, 
he  had  not  asked  those  views,  but  had  announced  to 
the  Secretary  his  own  policy  and  decision. 

As  to  the  term  of  the  Presidential  office,  the 
conclusion  of  the  Constitutional  convention  has 
been  less  fully  acquiesced  in.  In  the  Presidential  term 

.    .  i  •  f      -i    f  —  Discussions   i  n 

convention,  opinions  shitted  from  a  convention. 
long  term  with  a  provision  making  the  person 
chosen  ineligible  to  a  re-election,  to  a  short  term 
without  any  such  restriction.  On  June  1st  the 
convention,  in  committee  of  the  whole,  voted  for  a 
term  of  seven  years,  and  on  June  2d  a  provision 
was  added  making  the  incumbent  ineligible  to  a 
second  term.  The  vote  on  the  question  of  a 
seven-year  term  stood  in  the  affirmative,  New 
York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware  and 
Virginia;  in  the  negative,  North  Carolina,  South 


72  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

Carolina,  Georgia  and  Connecticut ;  Massachusetts 
was  divided.  On  the  question  of  making  the  Exec- 
utive ineligible  after  seven  years,  Massachusetts, 
New  York,  Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia,  North 
Carolina  and  South  Carolina  voted  in  the  affirma- 
tive ;  Connecticut  and  Georgia  in  the  negative, 
and  Pennsylvania  was  divided.  On  July  19th, 
the  subject  being  again  before  the  convention,  it 
was  voted,  nine  States  in  the  affirmative  to  one 
(Delaware)  in  the  negative,  to  make  the  term  six 
years.  On  July  26th  the  original  proposition  of 
the  committee  of  the  whole  "  that  the  Executive 
be  appointed  for  seven  years,  and  be  ineligible  a 
second  time,"  was  reinstated  and  passed.  On 
September  6th,  by  a  final  vote,  the  term  was  fixed 
at  four  years,  and  no  restraint  was  put  upon  the 
eligibility  of  the  President  for  as  many  terms  as  he 
might  be  chosen.  The  fears  of  those  who  said 
that  the  power  of  the  office  was  such  as  to  enable 
an  ambitious  incumbent  to  secure  an  indefinite 
succession  of  terms  have  not  been  realized.  In 
practice  the  popular  opinion  has  limited  the  eligi- 
bility of  the  President  to  one  re-election.  But 
some  of  our  leading  and  most  thoughtful  public 
six  years  and  no  men  nave  challenged  the  wisdom  of 
the  four-year  term,  and  have  advo- 
cated six  years,  usually  accompanied  with  a  prohi- 
bition of  a  second  term.  And  unless  some  method 


THE   PRESIDENT  73 

can  be  devised  by  which  a  less  considerable  part 
of  the  four-year  term  must  be  given  to  hearing 
applicants  for  office  and  to  making  appointments, 
it  would  be  wise  to  give  the  President,  by  extend- 
ing the  term,  a  better  chance  to  show  what  he  can 
do  for  the  country.  It  must  be  admitted,  also,  that 
ineligibility  to  a  second  term  will  give  to  the  Exec- 
utive action  greater  independence.  It  seems  un- 
likely, however,  that  any  change  in  the  Presi- 
dential term  will  be  made  unless  some  unexpected 
event  should  stir  into  action  a  thought  that  is  now 
of  a  theoretical  rather  than  a  practical  cast.  Our 
people  are  wisely  conservative  in  the  matter  of 
amending  the  Constitution. 

The  provisions  of  the  Constitution  relating  to 
the  manner  of  choosing  the  President  are  of  pe- 
culiar interest,  for  the  reason  that,     Manner  of  choos- 
ing— plans  p  r  o  - 

while  we  still  follow  the  letter  of  the  posed. 
Constitution,  we  have  practically  adopted  a  new, 
and  to  the  framers  of  the  Constitution,  an  un- 
thought-of  method.  Various  methods  of  choosing 
the  President  were  proposed  in  the  convention. 
Mr.  Wilson,  of  Pennsylvania,  one  of  the  most 
learned  and  useful  members  of  the  convention, 
proposed  that  the  States  be  divided  into  a  certain 
number  of  election  districts,  and  that  in  each  the 
people  choose  "  electors  of  the  Executive  magis- 
tracy." Mr.  Roger  Sherman  was  for  an  election  by 


74  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

Congress.  Mr.  Rutledge  suggested  an  election  by 
the  Senate.  Mr.  Gerry  proposed  that  the  Presi- 
dent should  be  chosen  by  the  Governors  of  the 
States  or  by  electors  chosen  by  them.  Mr.  Wilson 
proposed  an  election  by  electors  to  be  chosen  by 
lot  from  the  National  Legislature.  He  did  not 
move  this  as  the  best  mode,  but  still  thought  the 
people  should  elect.  As  a  member  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania convention,  he  said,  "The  convention  were 
perplexed  with  no  part  of  this  so  much  as  with  the 
mode  of  choosing  the  President  of  the  United 
States."  It  was  determined  that  electors  should 
be  chosen  in  each  State,  and  that  they  should 
meet  and  elect  the  President  and  Vice-President. 
How  the  electors  should  be  chosen,  and  how  many 
each  State  should  have,  was  next  a  subject  of  de- 
bate and  division.  It  was  finally  determined  that 
"  each  State  shall  appoint  in  such  manner  as  the 
one  elector  for  Legislature  thereof  may  direct,  a 

each  Senator  and  ,1          i     , 

Representative.  number  of  electors  equal  to  the  whole 
number  of  Senators  and  Representatives  to  which 
the  State  may  be  entitled  in  the  Congress."  In- 
diana has  thirteen  Representatives  in  Congress 
and  two  Senators,  and  chooses,  therefore,  fifteen 
electors  of  President  and  Vice-President.  Rhode 
Island  has  two  Representatives  in  Congress  and 
two  Senators,  and  chooses  four  electors  of  Presi- 
dent and  Vice-President,  and  so  of  the  other 


THE   PRESIDENT  75 

States.  The  number  of  Representatives  that  a 
State  has  in  Congress  is  determined,  as  we  have 
seen,  by  its  population,  and  the  population  is  as- 
certained by  a  census  taken  every  ten  years.  The 
unit  of  representation — that  is,  the  number  of 
people  that  shall  be  entitled  to  a  Rep-  unit  of  repre- 

.  .  sentation— n  u  m  - 

resentative  in  Congress — is  nxed  by  ber  of  electors. 
law  every  tenth  year,  after  the  census  returns  of 
population  are  in.  The  Constitution  provides  that 
the  number  of  Representatives  shall  not  be  greater 
than  one  for  every  thirty  thousand.  Upon  the  ba- 
sis of  one  for  every  thirty  thousand  the  House  of 
Representatives  would  now  consist  of  2,333  mem- 
bers, estimating  our  total  population  at  70,000,000. 
The  Electoral  Colleges  would,  of  course,  have  the 
same  number  of  electors,  plus  ninety — the  whole 
number  of  the  Senators.  But  under  the  law  of 
February  7, 1891,  the  whole  number  of  Representa- 
tives is  fixed  at  three  hundred  and  fifty-six — one 
for  each  175,905  of  population — to  which  is  to  be 
added  the  Representative  from  Utah,  since  ad- 
mitted to  the  Union.  The  whole  number  of  the 
electors  of  President  and  Vice-President  is  now 
(1897)  four  hundred  and  forty- seven — three  hun- 
dred and  fifty-seven  plus  ninety.  The  assembled 
electors  of  a  State  are  not  called  a  "  college  "  in  the 
Constitution,  but  they  have  been  so  designated  in 
the  statutes. 


76  THIS   COUNTRY    OF   OURS 

The  manner  of  choosing  the  electors  is  left  by 
the  Constitution  to  the  Legislatures  of  the  respec- 
States.     The  method  most  used 


Manner  of 

chooBing  electors.    hag   been   ^   cnooge    the    electorg    by 

a  popular  vote  in  the  whole  State  —  each  voter 
voting  for  the  whole  number  of  electors  to  which 
the  State  is  entitled.  The  general  practice  of 
the  political  parties  is  to  allow  each  Congressional 
district  to  nominate  an  elector,  who  is  designated 
a  district  elector,  and  in  a  State  convention 
to  nominate  the  two  electors  given  for  the  Sena- 
tors, usually  called  electors-at-large  or  Senatorial 
electors. 

In  a  few  of  the  States  the  laws  require  the  dis- 
trict electors  to  be  residents  of  their  respective 
districts,  and  in  the  other  States  the  practice  is  so. 
But  all  of  these  are  put  on  the  State  ticket  and  are 
voted  for  throughout  the  whole  State,  and  usually 
are  all  elected,  or  none  ;  though,  in  a  few  instances, 
some  one  elector  on  a  party  ticket  has  been  chosen 
and  the  others  defeated.  But  this  method  of  choos- 
ing electors  has  not  been  universal.  In  some  States 
the  electors  have  been  chosen  by  a  vote  of  the  Leg- 
islature, and  in  Michigan  in  1891,  the  Democratic 
party  being  in  the  ascendency  in  the  Legislature, 
and  the  Republicans  probably  having  a  majority 
on  the  popular  vote  in  the  whole  State,  a  law  was 
passed  giving  to  each  Congressional  district  the 


THE    PRESIDENT  77 

right  to  choose  aii  elector,  and  to  the  whole  State 
the  right  to  choose  only  the  two  Senatorial  electors. 
By  this  method  those  Congressional  districts  that 
had  a  Democratic  majority  could  choose  electors  of 
that  party  and  thus  divide  the  electoral  vote  of  the 
State.  It  is  greatly  to  be  desired  that  a  uniform 
method  of  choosing  Presidential  A  uniform 
electors  should  be  adopted,  so  as  to  method  desirable- 
free  the  selection  as  much  as  possible  from  par- 
tisan juggling.  The  purpose  of  the  convention  was 
to  provide  for  the  selection  of  a  body  of  well-in- 
formed, patriotic  men,  who  should  elect  as  President 
the  man  whom  they  should  think  best  fitted  for 
the  high  office.  Their  choice  was  not  to  be  con- 
strained by  pledges,  nor  limited  by  nominating 
conventions.  But  while  we  still  use  the  letter,  the 
spirit  of  the  Constitution  was  speedily  subverted. 
Presidential  candidates  are  nominated  in  national 
party  conventions,  and  the  electors  of  spirit  of  the 

,          Constitution   eub- 

tne  party  are  regarded  as  honorably  verted. 
bound  to  vote  for  the  nominee,  whatever  may  be 
their  individual  opinion  as  to  his  fitness  for  the 
office.  An  elector  who  failed  to  vote  for  the  nom- 
inee of  his  party  would  be  the  object  of  execration, 
and  in  times  of  very  high  excitement  might  be  the 
subject  of  a  lynching. 

The  origin  of  the  Electoral  College  has  been  the 
subject  of  much  speculation.     The  only  American 


78  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

precedent  is  found  in  the  first  Constitution  of 
Maryland,  where  provision  was  made  for  the  choice 
of  State  Senators  by  electors  chosen  by  popular 

origin  of  Eiecto-  vo^e  *n  sPecifie(^  districts.  In  the  Mas- 
sachusetts convention  Mr.  Bowdoin 
said  :  "This  method  of  choosing  the  President  was 
probably  taken  from  the  manner  of  choosing  Sen- 
ators under  the  Constitution  of  Maryland."  An 
attempt  has  been  made  by  some  to  find  the  sug- 
gestion of  the  Electoral  College,  as  we  have  come  to 
call  it,  in  the  method  formerly  in  use  of  choosing  the 
German  Emperor,  and  by  others  in  the  method  of 
choosing  a  Pope  by  the  College  of  Cardinals.  Sir 
Henry  Maine  says :  "  The  American  Republican 
electors  are  the  German  Imperial  electors,  except 
that  they  are  chosen  by  the  several  States."  As 
Maryland,  where  the  electoral  system  was  first 
used,  was  a  Catholic  colony,  the  suggestion  that  the 
idea  was  derived  from  the  College  of  Cardinals 
seems  plausible.  There  is  this  difference :  our 
electors  are  not  a  permanent  body,  but  men  chosen 
every  four  years.  We  are  in  the  habit  of  speaking 
President  chosen  of  tlle  Presidential  election  as  taking 
m  January.  place  on  the  first  Tuesday  after  the 
first  Monday  of  November,  in  every  fourth  year,  but 
in  fyct  no  vote  is  given  for  President  and  Vice- 
President  at  that  time  at  all.  The  names  of  the 
party  nominees  for  President  and  Vice-President 


THE   PRESIDENT  79 

are  sometimes  printed  on  the  ballots,  but  no  voter 
votes,  or  can  vote,  for  them  and  no  account  is  taken 
of  them  on  the  tally  sheets.  He  votes  for  certain 
men  whose  names  are  on  the  ticket  as  electors ; 
and,  by  the  Act  of  February  3,  1887,  the  electors 
chosen  assemble  in  each  State  at  the  Capital  on  the 
second  Monday  of  January  following  and  vote  for  a 
President  and  Vice-President.  These  votes  from 
each  State  are  sealed  and  sent  in  duplicate  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States  Senate,  one  copy  by 
mail  and  the  other  by  a  special  messenger.  So  that, 
in  fact,  our  President  is  elected  on  the  second  Mon- 
day in  January  in  every  fourth  year,  though  we  are 
not  in  doubt,  after  the  November  election,  as  to 
who  will  be  chosen,  because  the  electors  are 
morally  bound  by  the  nomination  of  their  party  in 
convention. 

The  original  provision  of  the  Constitution  did 
not  allow  the  electors  to  vote  separately  for  a 
President  and  Vice-President.  They  Pre8ident  and 
were  required  to  vote  for  two  per-  ^SSSSXfSS 
sons,  at  least  one  of  whom  should  lyat 
be  a  resident  of  another  State  than  their  own. 
Either  of  these  persons  might  become  President, 
for  the  person  having  the  highest  number  of  votes, 
when  the  votes  of  the  States  were  opened  by  the 
President  of  the  Senate  and  counted,  if  that  num- 
ber were  a  majority  of  all  the  votes,  became  Presi- 


80  THIS    COUNTRY    OF   OURS 

dent,  and  if  it  happened  that  two  persons  had  a 
majority  and  an  equal  number  of  votes,  as  it  might, 
then  the  House  of  Representatives  was  required  to 
choose  one  of  these  persons  to  be  President — the 
vote  being  by  States — each  State,  by  a  majority  of 
its  members,  casting  one  vote,  and  a  majority  of 
all  the  States  being  necessary  to  a  choice.  If  no 
Elections  by  House  person  had  a  majority  of  the  votes  of 
ate'  the  electors,  the  House  was  then  to 
choose  a  President  from  the  five  highest  on  the 
list.  After  the  choice  of  the  President,  the  person 
having  the  highest  number  of  votes  in  the  Elec- 
toral College  was  to  be  Vice-President ;  and  if  two 
had  an  equal  number,  the  Senate  was  to  choose 
one  of  them  to  be  Vice-President.  It  was  by  this 
crude  and  awkward  method  that  Washington,  John 
Adams,  and  Jefferson  (for  his  first  term)  were 
chosen.  In  1800  the  candidates  for  President  and 
Vice-President  of  the  Federal  Party  were  Adams 
and  Pinckney  ;  of  the  Republican  Party,  Jefferson 
and  Burr.  Jefferson  and  Burr  each  received  sev- 
Eiection  of  Jef-  enty-three  votes ;  Adams  received 

fereon    by    the  '  . 

House.  sixty-five,    and   Pinckney   sixty-four. 

This  result  necessitated  the  election  of  a  President 
by  the  House  of  Representatives. 

The  Senate  and  House  met  in  joint  session,  and 
the  count  having  disclosed  that  there  was  no  elec- 
tion by  reason  of  the  tie  between  Jefferson  and 


THE   PRESIDENT  81 

Burr,  the  House  returned  to  its  chamber  and, 
under  rules  previously  adopted,  proceeded  to  vote 
for  a  President.  Sixteen  ballot  boxes — one  for 
each  State — were  provided,  and  the  members  from 
each  State,  seated  together,  deposited  their  ballots 
in  the  box  assigned  to  them,  and  then  b}r  tellers  of 
their  own  counted  the  ballots.  Two  other  boxes 
were  then  carried  around  to  the  delegations  by  the 
Sergeant-at-Arms,  and  in  each  of  these  a  duplicate 
ballot,  showing  the  choice  of  the  State,  was  de- 
posited. If  a  majority  of  the  members  from  a 
State  voted  for  the  same  person,  the  vote  of  the 
State  was  cast  for  him — but,  if  no  person  had  a 
majority,  duplicate  ballots  with  the  word  "  divided  " 
upon  them  were  deposited.  The  two  boxes  were 
then  carried  to  separate  tables  and  counted  by 
tellers.  If  the  vote  in  the  two  boxes  agreed,  the 
result  was  accepted ;  otherwise,  a  new  ballot  was  to 
be  taken.  The  rules  provided  that  the  balloting 
should  proceed  without  adjournment  and  without 
interruption  by  other  business  until  a  President 
was  chosen.  It  was  provided  that  all  questions 
"  incidental  to  the  power  of  choosing  the  Presi- 
dent "  should  be  decided  by  a  vote  of  the  States, 
but  the  decision  as  to  whether  a  particular  ques- 
tion was  of  that  sort  was  to  be  by  a  per  capita 
vote  of  the  whole  House.  The  balloting  began 
February  11  (1801)  and  continued  until  February 


82  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

17th,  when  on  the  thirty-sixth  ballot  Jefferson  was 
chosen  by  the  votes  of  ten  States— of  which  fact 
the  President  and  the  Senate  were  at  once  notified. 
Aaron  Burr  became  Vice -President  by  the  vote  of 
the  electors  —  after  Jefferson  had  been  chosen 
President —and  not  by  a  vote  of  the  Senate.  The 
certificate  which  the  Senate  directed  its  President 
to  sign,  after  reciting  that  Jefferson  and  Burr  had 
each  received  the  same  number  of  votes,  and  a 
majority  of  the  electors,  and  that  Jefferson  had 
been  elected  President  by  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, concluded  thus:  "By  all  of  which  it 
appears  that  Aaron  Burr,  Esq.,  of  New  York,  is 
duly  elected  Vice-President  of  the  United  States 
of  America." 

In  1803  Congress  proposed  an  amendment  to  the 
Constitution,  the  twelfth,  which  was  adopted  in 
1804,  and  has  ever  since  been  in  force.  The  votes 
are  now  given  in  the  Electoral  College  for  a  Presi- 

NOW  voted  for  dent  anc^  Vice-Prcsident  separately, 
separately.  rpne  persoll  having  the  highest  num- 
ber of  votes  for  President,  and  a  majority  of  all  the 
votes,  is  elected  ;  and  so  of  the  Vice-President. 
If  no  person  has  a  majority  of  the  votes  for 
President  then  the  House  of  Representatives  is 
required  from  the  three  having  the  largest  num- 
ber of  votes  to  choose  a  President,  the  vote 
being  taken  by  States  as  before.  If  a  Vice-Presi- 


THE   PRESIDENT  83 

dent  is  not  chosen  by  the  electors  the  Senate 
elects  him  "from  the  two  highest  numbers  on 
the  list."  If  the  House  of  Representatives,  when 
the  choice  devolves  upon  it,  does  not  choose  a 
President  before  the  4th  of  March,  then  the 
Vice-President  acts  as  President,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  death,  or  other  constitutional  disability,  of 
the  President.  Since  the  adoption  of  the  Twelfth 
Amendment  there  has  been  one  case  of  the  fail- 
ure of  a  choice  by  the  electors  for  President 
(1825),  and  one  of  a  failure  to  elect  a  Vice-Presi- 
dent (1837). 

In  1825,  Andrew  Jackson,  John  Quincy  Adams, 
William  H.  Crawford,  and  Henry  Clay  were  voted 

for  by  the  electors  for  President,  and      Election  of  j. 

f  IT  •  mi      fy Adams  by the 

none  of  them  had  a  majority.     The  House 

count  of  the  votes  having  been  made,  the  House, 
under  rules  almost  identical  with  those  used  in 
1800,  proceeded  to  choose  a  President.  Jackson, 
Adams,  and  Crawford,  the  three  persons  having 
the  "  highest  numbers  "  of  the  electoral  votes,  were 
eligible  to  be  chosen  by  the  House.  On  the  first 
ballot  John  Quincy  Adams  received  the  votes  of 
thirteen  States  out  of  twenty-four,  and  was  elected 
President.  John  C.  Calhoun  had  received  a  ma- 
jority of  the  votes  of  the  electors  for  the  office  of 
Vice-President,  and  had  been  declared  elected  on 
the  count. 


84  THIS   COUNTRY    OF   OURS 

In    1837,    no    one   having    a    majority   of    the 
votes  for  Vice-President,  the  Senate  elected  Rich- 

01  E  M  Johnson  ar(^  ^'  Jonnson>  the  Democratic  can- 
by  the'senate.      didate>  wllo  nad  received  the  high. 

est  electoral  vote. 


CHAPTEE  V 

THE  PKESIDENT  (CONTINUED) 

QUALIFICATIONS — SUCCESSION  —  NOTIFICATION  —  INAUGURATION — 
MESSAGES. 

THE  Constitution  requires  that  the  President 
shall  be  a  natural-born  citizen  of  the  United  States, 
or  shall  have  been  a  citizen  at  the  time 
of  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution. 
If  there  is  in  the  country  a  foreign-born  citizen  who 
was  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  in  1789  (and 
possibly  there  is  such  a  person),  he  is  eligible  to 
the  Presidency ;  but,  as  he  must  now  be  at  least 
one  hundred  and  eight  years  of  age,  we  may 
read  the  exception  in  behalf  of  that  class  out  of 
the  Constitution.  At  the  time  of  the  adoption  of 
the  Constitution  there  were  conspicuous  statesmen 
and  patriots,  such  as  Hamilton,  who  were  foreign 
born,  and  whose  services  in  securing  our  freedom 
and  in  organizing  the  Government  were  such  that 
it  would  have  been  ungracious  to  have  made  them 
ineligible  to  the  Presidency.  The  President  must 
be  thirty-five  years  of  age,  and  have  been  fourteen 
years  a  resident  of  the  United  States.  In  case  of 

85 


86  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

the  death,  resignation,  or  inability  of  the  President, 
or  his  removal  from  office,  the  powers  and  duties  of 
presidential  sue-  the  office  devolve  upon  the  Vice-Pres- 
ident, and  in  the  case  of  the  removal, 
death,  resignation,  or  inability  of  both  the  Presi- 
dent and  Vice-President,  Congress  is  empowered 
to  declare  what  officer  shall  act  as  President — and 
that  officer  acts  until  the  disability  is  removed  or 
a  President  is  elected. 

The  first  law  passed  by  Congress  fixing  the  suc- 
cession was  in  1791,  and  its  provisions  were  that  in 
case  of  the  death,  resignation,  or  disability  of  both 
the  President  and  Vice-President,  the  President 
pro  tempore  of  the  Senate  should  succeed  to  the 
office  of  President,  and,  if  there  was  no  President 
of  the  Senate,  then  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  should  take  the  office. 

The  Presidential  and  Vice-Presidential  offices 
have  never  in  our  history  both  become  vacant  dur- 
ing a  Presidential  term.  Four  Presidents  have 
died  in  office — Harrison,  Taylor,  Lincoln,  and  Gar- 
field,  but  the  Vice-President  took  up  the  office  and 
survived  the  term.  Vice-Presidents  Clinton,  Gerry, 
King,  Wilson,  and  Hendricks  died  in  office.  John 
C.  Calhoun  resigned  to  become  Senator  from  South 
Carolina.  In  1886  a  new  statute  was  passed  by 
Congress  changing  the  succession,  and  now  in  the 
event  of  the  death,  removal,  or  disability  of  both 


THE   PRESIDENT  87 

the  President  and  Vice-President,  the  succession 
devolves  upon  the  members  of  the  Cabinet  in  the 
following  order :  Secretary  of  State,  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  Secretary  of  War,  Attorney-General, 
Postmaster-General,  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  Secre- 
tary of  the  Interior. 

The  Constitutional  provision  for  counting  the 
votes  after  they  are  sent  in  to  the  President  of  the 
Senate,  and  by  him  opened  in  the  Connti  lectoral 
presence  of  the  Senate  and  House 
assembled  in  joint  session,  is  a  little  indefinite : 
"And  the  votes  shall  then  be  counted,"  says  the 
Constitution.  There  was  no  question  raised  so 
long  as  it  was  only  a  matter  of  addition.  But 
there  came  a  time,  in  1876,  when  two  returns  of 
electoral  votes  appeared  from  the  same  State  and 
for  different  persons,  and  the  question  then  be- 
came acute  and  very  threatening.  Who  was  to 
decide  which  of  them  was  the  rightful  vote  of  the 
State — the  President  of  the  Senate,  the  joint  body 
voting  as  one  body,  or  the  Senate  and  House  vot- 
ing separately  in  their  own  chambers  ?  And  if, 
so  voting,  they  differed,  what  was  to  be  done  ? 
There  was  then  no  method  of  settling  in  the  courts 
beforehand  the  question  which  of  the  rival  bodies 
of  electors  was  the  true  one,  and  as  the  question 
whether  Mr.  Hayes  or  Mr.  Tildeu  had  been 
elected  turned  on  the  question  which  of  certain 


88 

returns  were  the  true  ones,  a  dangerous  crisis  was 

precipitated.     This  was  settled  by  an  expedient, 

Electoral   com-  viz. :    an    Electoral   Commission,    or 

mission  of  1876—  •••/»« 

Law  of  1887.  Court,  consisting  of  five  Senators, 
five  Representatives,  and  five  Judges  of  the  Su- 
preme Court,  to  try  the  disputed  questions,  and 
this  Commission  decided  in  favor  of  Mr.  Hayes. 
As  an  outcome  of  this,  February  3,  1887,  Congress 
passed  an  act  containing  the  following  provisions  : 
Section  2  provides  that  any  contest  regarding  the 
choice  of  electors  must  be  decided,  as  provided  by 
the  laws  of  the  State,  at  least  six  days  before  the 
meeting  of  the  electors  on  the  second  Monday  in 
January.  Section  3  provides  that  a  certificate  of 
election  must  be  issued  by  the  State  Executive  in 
triplicate  to  the  electors  and  transmitted  by  them 
to  the  President  of  the  Senate  with  their  votes  for 
President  and  Vice-President.  Section  4  provides 
that  objection  to  the  reception  of  any  return  must 
be  in  writing,  and  signed  by  one  member  of  each 
House.  "No  electoral  vote  or  votes  from  any 
State  which  shall  have  been  regularly  given  by 
electors  whose  appointment  has  been  lawfully  cer- 
tified to,  according  to  Section  3  of  this  Act,  from 
which  but  one  return  has  been  received,  shall  be 
rejected,  but  the  two  Houses  concurrently  may  re- 
ject the  vote  or  votes  when  they  agree  that  such 
vote  or  votes  have  not  been  so  regularly  given  by 


THE   PRESIDENT  89 

electors  whose  appointment  has  been  so  certified. 
If  more  than  one  return,  or  paper  purporting  to  be 
a  return,  from  a  State  shall  have  been  received  by 
the  President  of  the  Senate,  those  votes,  and  those 
only,  shall  be  counted  which  shall  have  been  regu- 
larly given  by  the  electors  who  are  shown  by  the 
determination  mentioned  in  Section  2  of  this  Act 
to  have  been  appointed,  if  the  determination  in 
said  section  provided  for  shall  have  been  made. 
.  .  .  But  in  case  there  shall  arise  the  question 
which  of  two  or  more  of  such  State  authorities  de- 
termining what  electors  have  been  appointed,  as 
mentioned  in  Section  2  of  this  Act,  is  the  lawful 
tribunal  of  such  State,  the  votes  regularly  given  of 
those  electors,  and  those  only,  of  such  State  shall 
be  counted  whose  title  as  electors  the  two  Houses, 
acting  separately,  shall  concurrently  decide  is  sup- 
ported by  the  decision  of  such  State  so  authorized 
by  its  laws.  And  in  such  case  of  more  than  one 
return,  or  paper  purporting  to  be  a  return,  from  a 
State,  if  there  shall  have  been  no  such  determina- 
tion of  the  question  in  the  State  aforesaid,  then 
those  votes,  and  those  only,  shall  be  counted  which 
the  two  Houses  shall  concurrently  decide  were 
cast  by  lawful  electors  appointed  in  accordance 
with  the  laws  of  the  State,  unless  the  two  Houses, 
acting  separately,  shall  concurrently  decide  such 
votes  not  to  be  the  lawful  votes  of  the  legally  ap- 


90 

pointed  electors  of  such  State."  If  the  two  Houses 
disagree,  the  votes  of  those  electors  holding  the 
certificate  of  the  State  Executive  shall  be  counted. 

Washington  was  orally  notified  of  his  first  elec- 
tion to  the  Presidency  by  Charles  Thomson,  who 
Notification  of  had  been  secretary  of  the  old  Con- 
gress. In  his  address,  Mr.  Thomson 
said  he  had  been  "  honored  with  the  commands  of 
the  Senate  to  wait  upon  Your  Excellency  with  the 
information  of  your  being  elected  to  the  office  of 
President  of  the  United  States  of  America."  He 
also  presented  a  certificate  signed  by  John  Lang- 
don,  who  had  been  "  appointed  President  of  the 
Senate  for  the  sole  purpose  of  receiving,  opening, 
and  counting  the  votes  of  the  electors, "  that  "  His 
Excellency  George  Washington,  Esq.,  was  unani- 
mously elected,  agreeably  to  the  Constitution,  to 
the  office  of  President  of  the  said  United  States 
of  America."  A  practice  grew  up  to  notify  the 
President-elect  of  his  election  through  a  com- 
mittee of  Congress,  appointed  for  that  purpose; 
but  the  practice  has  not  been  uniform  and  has 
now  fallen  into  disuse. 

There  hangs  in  my  library  a  parchment  which 
reads  as  follows : 

Be  it  known,  that  the  Senate  and  House  of  Represent- 
atives of  the  United  States  of  America,  being  convened 
at  the  city  of  Washington,  on  the  second  Wednesday  of 


THE   PRESIDENT  91 

February,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  forty-one,  the  under-written  Vice-Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  and  President  of  the  Senate, 
did,  in  the  presence  of  the  said  Senate  and  House  of 
Representatives,  open  all  the  certificates  and  count  all 
the  votes  of  the  electors  for  a  President  and  Vice-Presi- 
dent  of  the  United  States  :  whereupon,  it  appeared  that 
William  Henry  Harrison  of  Ohio,  had  a  majority  of  the 
votes  of  the  electors  as  President ;  by  which  it  appears 
that  William  Henry  Harrison  of  Ohio,  has  been  duly 
elected  President  of  the  United  States,  agreeably  to  the 
Constitution,  for  four  years  commencing  with  the  fourth 
day  of  March,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  forty-one. 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  subscribed  my 
name  and  caused  the  seal  of  the  Senate  to  be  affixed, 
this  tenth  day  of  February,  eighteen  hundred  and  forty- 
one. 

RH.  M.  JOHNSON, 

Vice-PTesident  of  the  United  States 

and  President  of  the  Senate. 
By  the  Vice-President. 
ASBURY  DICKENS, 
Secretary  of  the  Senate. 

The  President-elect  now  receives  no  official  no- 
tice of  his  election,  nor  any  commission  or  certifi- 
cate of  the  result  of  the  count.  He 

None  given  now. 

takes    notice    himself  and    presents 

himself  on  the  4th  of  March  to  take  the  oath  of 

office. 

He   usually   goes   to  Washington   a  few  days, 


92  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

often  as  much  as  a  week,  before  the  4th  of  March. 

He  may  not  have  conclusively  selected  all  of  the 

members  of  his  Cabinet,  and  at  the 

The  inauguration.  . 

Capital  he  can  pursue  such  final  in- 
quiries as  he  desires  to  make  with  more  freedom 
and  despatch  than  at  home.  He  calls  upon  the 
President  at  once,  and  the  latter  returns  the  call 
within  the  hour.  General  Jackson  imputed  to  his 
predecessor,  Mr.  Adams,  some  connection  with  the 
circulation  of  certain  offensive  campaign  stories, 
and  declined  to  call  upon  him.  Mr.  Adams  re- 
sented this  discourtesy,  and  declined  to  attend  the 
inaugural  ceremonies.  It  is  said  that  he  was  tak- 
ing a  horseback  ride  in  the  suburbs  when  the  guns 
saluted  his  successor. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  when  the  time  for  starting 
the  inaugural  escort  is  near,  the  President-elect  is 
taken  by  the  committee  in  charge  to  the  Executive 
Mansion,  where  he  joins  the  President,  and,  enter- 
ing his  carriage,  is  driven  with  him  to  the  Capitol. 

The  Constitution  requires  that  before  assuming 
his  office  the  President  shall  take  the  following 
oath  or  affirmation : 

I  do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm)  that  I  will  faithfully 

execute  the  office  of  President  of  the 
Oath  of  office. 

United  States,  and  will  to  the  best  of  iny 

ability,  preserve,  protect,  and  defend  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States. 


THE   PEESIDENT  93 

Tiie  oath  is  usually  administered  by  the  Chief 
Justice  of  the  United  States,  in  the  presence  of 
the  people,  upon  a  platform  erected  on  the  east 
front  of  the  Capitol.  When  Washington  was  first 
inaugurated  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  had  not  been  organized,  and  the  Chancellor 
of  the  State  of  New  York  was  selected  to  adminis- 
ter the  oath.  When  the  oath  had  been  taken  the 
Chancellor  proclaimed  "  Long  live  ..  Long  live  George 
George  Washington,  President  of  the  Waphtagton-" 
United  States."  A  Bible  is  used  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  oath,  and  the  President  kisses  the 
open  page  of  the  Book.  After  the  administration 
of  the  oath  the  President  delivers  an  address. 
This  address  is  of  a  popular  character,  and  in  or- 
dinary times  is  not  a  very  important  state  paper. 
Now  and  then,  however,  as  on  the 

.  Inaugural  address. 

first  inauguration  ot  Mr.  Lincoln,  the 
address  is  of  the  highest  significance  and  value,  as 
a  forecast  of  administrative  policies.  To  Wash- 
ington's first  inaugural  address  each  House  made 
a  return  address,  and  Washington  a  reply.  The 
Senate  returned  "  sincere  thanks  for  your  excellent 
speech."  Since  then  there  has  been  no  response 
from  either  House  to  the  inaugural  address  of  the 
President.  Congress,  in  the  usual  course  of 
things,  is  not  in  session  when  the  President  takes 
the  oath  of  office,  as  it  was  when  Washington  was 


94  THIS   COUNTRY  OF  OURS 

first  inaugurated,  and  so  the  form  of  inaugural  ad- 
dress is  "  My  Fellow-Citizens." 

When  the  inaugural  ceremonies  are  completed, 
the  President  and  the  ex-President  again  take  their 
Ketum  to  white  places  in  the  carriage  —  the  ex-Presi- 

Honse-Review. 


driven  to  the  Executive  Mansion,  where  the  wife 
of  the  President  joins  him.  They  are  usually  re- 
ceived by  the  wife  of  the  ex-President,  or  by  the 
lady  who  may  stand  in  her  place.  The  ex-President 
then  withdraws,  and  the  President  goes  to  the  re- 
viewing stand  which  is  placed  on  the  avenue  in 
front  of  the  Executive  Mansion.  The  procession 
is  usually  several  hours  in  passing,  and  the  expos- 
ure, especially  if  the  day  is  raw  and  wet,  as  it  often 
is,  is  not  only  very  uncomfortable,  but  really  perilous 
to  life.  The  close  of  the  Congress  and  the  be- 
ginning of  the  President's  term  should  be  changed 
to  May  4th.  This  would  make  the  "  short  ses- 
sion "  available  for  something  besides  the  appro- 
priation bills,  would  diminish  the  chances  of  a 
Vice-Presidential  succession,  and  save  many  use- 
ful lives  —  for  I  do  not  doubt  that  the  exposure  and 
suffering  endured  by  the  parading  organizations 
and  by  the  spectators  in  1881,  1889,  and  1893, 
carried  many  people  to  premature  graves. 

The  Constitution  provides   that   the  President 
"  shall  from  time  to  time  give  to  the  Congress  in- 


THE   PRESIDENT  95 

formation  of  the  state  of  the  Union,  and  recom- 
mend to  their  consideration  such  measures  as  he 
shall  judge  necessary  and  expedient."  Annual  Meg8 
Out  of  this  provision,  as  well  as  the 
obvious  necessity  of  the  case,  the  annual  message 
of  the  President  has  come.  In  the  beginning  it 
took  the  form  of  an  address,  delivered  by  the 
President  orally  to  the  two  Houses  assembled  in 
joint  convention,  and  during  the  administrations 
of  Washington  and  John  Adams  the  Senate  and 
House  each  made  a  responsive  address  to  the 
President,  to  which  he  made  a  reply. 

Mr.  Jefferson  sent  his  first  annual  message  to 
Congress  in  writing — a  copy  to  each  House — and 
accompanied  it  by  a  letter  in  dupli-  M  r .  Jefferson 

Bends    a    written 

cate  to  the  President  of  the  Senate  message. 
and  to  the  Speaker  of  the  House,  in  which  he  said 
that  he  adopted  this  course  because  the  circum- 
stances rendered  "inconvenient  the  mode  hereto- 
fore practised  of  making  by  personal  address  the 
first  communications  between  the  Legislative  and 
Executive  branches,"  and  mentioned  the  fact  that 
communications  by  written  messages  had  been  the 
practice  "  on  all  subsequent  occasions  through  the 
session."  He  thought  the  course  he  adopted  would 
be  more  convenient  and  would  relieve  the  Houses 
"  from  the  embarrassment  of  immediate  answers  on 
subjects  not  yet  fully  before  them."  The  usage 


96  THIS   COUNTRY    OF   OUES 

thus  inaugurated  by  Jefferson  of  sending  the  an- 
nual messages  to  Congress  in  writing  by  a  secre- 
tary— a  copy  to  each  House  —  has  become  the 
settled  practice,  and  the  practice  of  making  re- 
sponsive addresses  has  been  abandoned. 

In  the  Senate  there  is  now  an  order  to  print, 
and  in  the  House  a  like  order  and  a  reference  of 

Reference  of  *ne  message  to  the  Committee  of  the 
Message.  ^ho\e  on  the  State  of  the  Union.  If 
any  of  the  recommendations  of  the  message  are 
approved  by  Congress  that  approval  is  expressed 
by  the  passage  of  laws  to  carry  them  into  effect. 
Once,  when  the  message  was  very  long,  a  jocular 
member  of  the  House  suggested  a  reference  to  the 
"Committee  on  Mileage," 

When  Vice-Presidents  Tyler,  Johnson,  and  Ar- 
thur succeeded  to  the  Presidency,  Congress  was 
inauguration  of  no^  ^  session,  and  the  oath  of  office 
vice-presidents  wag  a(jmiuistered  without  the  usual 
formalities.  When  President  Taylor  died  Congress 
was  in  session,  and  the  following  proceedings  were 
taken  :  Vice-President  Fillmore,  in  a  communica- 
tion addressed  to  the  Senate,  announced  the  death 
of  the  President,  and  that  the  Vice-President 
would  no  longer  act  as  President  of  the  Senate.  In 
another  communication,  addressed  to  both  Houses, 
he  made  the  same  announcement  and  added :  "I 
propose,  this  day,  at  twelve  o'clock,  in  the  Hall  of 


THE   PEESIDENT  97 

the  House  of  Representatives,  in  the  presence  of 
both  Houses  of  Congress,  to  take  the  oath  of  office 
prescribed  by  the  Constitution,  to  enable  me  to 
enter  on  the  execution  of  the  office  which  this 
event  has  devolved  on  me." 

The  two  Houses  assembled  in  joint  session  at 
the  hour  named,  and  the  oath  of  office  was  admin- 
istered. There  was  no  address  by  Mr.  Fillmore. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE    PRESIDENT  (CONTINUED) 

ENFORCEMENT  OF  THE  LAWS — THE  APPOINTING  POWER — SEN- 
ATE'S BEQUEST  FOR  PAPERS — CONTROVERSY  WITH  PRESIDENT 
CLEVELAND — VACATION  APPOINTMENTS — RELATIONS  OF  CAB- 
INET OFFICERS — USAGE  AS  TO  CONGRESSIONAL  INFLUENCE  IN 
APPOINTMENTS — SENATORIAL  COURTESY — CIVIL  SERVICE. 

HAVING  considered  the  manner  of  electing  the 
President,  his  induction  into  office,  and  the  manner 
in  which  he  communicates  with  Congress,  let  us 
now  look  at  some  of  his  larger  powers  and  duties. 
Enforcement  of  The  most  comprehensive  power  is 
given  in  these  words:  "He  shall 
take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully  executed." 
This  is  the  central  idea  of  the  office.  An  executive 
is  one  who  executes  or  carries  into  effect.  And 
in  a  Republic — a  Government  by  the  people, 
through  laws  appropriately  passed — the  thing  to 
be  executed  is  the  law,  not  the  will  of  the  ruler 
as  in  despotic  governments.  The  President  can- 
not go  beyond  the  law,  and  he  cannot  stop  short 
of  it.  His  duty  and  his  oath  of  office  take  it  all 
in  and  leave  him  no  discretion,  save  as  to  the 
means  to  be  employed.  Laws  do  not  execute 

98 


THE   PRESIDENT  99 

themselves.  Somebody  must  look  after  them.  It 
is  the  duty  of  the  President  to  see  that  every  law 
passed  by  Congress  is  executed.  These  relate  to 
a  multitude  of  things — the  postal  service,  the  in- 
ternal revenue  and  a  hundred  other  things.  To 
enable  him  to  do  this,  provision  is  made  for  the 
appointment  of  a  large  number  of  subordinate 
executive  officers.  At  the  head  of 
these  are  the  eight  Cabinet  officers  : 
the  Secretary  of  State,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury, the  Secretary  of  War,  the  Attorney-General, 
the  Postmaster-General,  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  the  Secre- 
tary of  Agriculture  ;  and  under  them  an  army  of 
subordinates,  the  number  now  being  about  178,000, 
not  including  those  in  the  military  and  naval 
service.  Of  these  about  84,000  are  in  the  classi- 
fied civil  service — that  is,  they  are  appointed  after 
examination  under  the  Civil  Service  Law  and  with- 
out regard  to  political  influence. 

The   appointing   power   is   expressed   in   these 
words  :  "  He  shall  nominate,  and  by  and  with  the 
advice   and   consent   of   the   Senate,      Appointing 
shall    appoint     Ambassadors,     other 
public  Ministers  and  Consuls,  Judges  of  the  Su- 
preme Court,  and  all  other  officers  of  the  United 
States,  whose  appointments  are  not  herein  other- 
wise provided  for,  and  which  shall  be  established 


100  THIS   COUNTRY    OF   OURS 

by  law ;  but  the  Congress  may  by  law  vest  the 
appointment  of  such  inferior  officers,  as  they  think 
proper,  in  the  President  alone,  in  the  Courts  of 
Law,  or  in  the  heads  of  departments."  Under 
this  provision,  the  appointment  of  a  large  number 
of  subordinate  officials  has  been  vested  in  the 
heads  of  departments. 

The  process  in  Presidential  appointments  is  for 
him  to  send  to  the  Senate  the  names  of  the  per- 

Nominations-    sons  ^e  ^as   selected  for  particular 
senate  action.    offices>     These  nominations  are  pub- 

lic.  A  list  of  them  for  the  press  usually  accom- 
panies the  official  communication  to  the  Senate. 
In  the  Senate  action  upon  the  nominations  is 
taken  in  what  is  called  executive  or  secret  session. 
The  nominations  are  first  referred  to  the  appro- 
priate committees — postmasters  to  the  Committee 
on  Post-Offices  and  Post  Eoads,  ambassadors  and 
ministers  to  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs, 
etc.  Here  the  scrutiny  generally  consists  in  refer- 
ring the  nominations  to  particular  committee 
members,  who  usually  inquire  of  the  Senator  or 
Senators  from  the  State  from  which  the  nominee 
comes  whether  there  are  any  objections.  If  any 
representations  are  received  by  the  committee 
against  the  fitness  or  character  of  the  nominee  he 
is  advised  of  the  nature  of  the  charges,  and  given 
an  opportunity  to  make  his  defence,  but  the  name 


THE   PRESIDENT  101 

of  the  person  presenting  the  charges  is  usually 
withheld.  If  on  a  vote  in  the  Senate  a  nomina- 
tion is  rejected  the  President  is  notified  and  the 
appointment  fails.  If  the  nomination  is  confirmed 
the  President,  on  notice  of  the  fact,  issues  to  the 
officer  a  commission  duly  signed  and  sealed. 

In  the  consideration  of  nominations  for  office  the 
committees  of  the  Senate  have  been  for  many  years 
in  the  habit  of  sending  to  the  De-  RightofSenateto 
partments  for  the  papers  filed  there  Bave  paper8' 
in  connection  with  the  case,  and  these  requests 
have  generally  been  complied  with.  They  seem  to 
have  had  their  origin  in  a  suggestion  from  the  Ex- 
ecutive. In  August,  1789,  a  nomination  made  by 
President  Washington  having  been  rejected  by  the 
Senate,  he  said,  in  sending  in  the  name  of  another 
person  :  "  Permit  me  to  submit  to  your  considera- 
tion whether  on  occasions  where  the  propriety  of 
nominations  appears  questionable  to  you  it  would 
not  be  expedient  to  communicate  that  circumstance 
to  me,  and  thereby  avail  yourselves  of  the  infor- 
mation which  led  me  to  make  them,  and  which  I 
would  with  pleasure  lay  before  you." 

The  protracted  and  heated  controversy  between 
President  Cleveland  and  the  Senate  diiring  his 
first  term,  as  to  the  right  of  the  Sen-  controversy  with 

President  Cl eve- 
ate  to  call  upon  the  Departments  for  land. 

the  papers  relating  to  the  suspension  of  an  officer 


102  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

under  the  Tenure  of  Office  Act,  as  well  as  for  those 
relating  to  the  appointment  of  the  person  nomi- 
nated to  fill  the  place  of  the  suspended  officer,  can 
only  be  briefly  mentioned.  On  behalf  of  the  Presi- 
dent it  was  contended  that  his  power  of  removal 
was  absolute  and  not  in  any  way  subject  to  the 
consent  of  the  Senate  ;  that  the  Senate  had  no  right 
to  call  for  papers  relating  to  a  subject  as  to  which 
it  could  take  no  action,  and  that  the  papers  relat- 
ing to  suspensions  were  not  official  but  were  pri- 
vate papers,  which  the  President  might  destroy  if 
he  pleased.  On  behalf  of  the  Senate  it  was  con- 
tended that  the  power  of  removal  was  not  involved ; 
that  the  suspensions  and  the  appointments  under 
consideration  were  made  under  the  Tenure  of  Office 
Act,  and  were  expressly  referred,  by  the  President 
in  the  nomination  messages,  to  that  law ;  that  un- 
der that  law  the  removal  of  an  officer  was  subject 
to  the  approval  of  the  Senate ;  that  such  officer 
would  resume  his  office,  if  the  Senate  took  no  ac- 
tion, at  the  end  of  the  session ;  that  the  removal  of 
an  officer  and  the  appointment  of  a  successor  were 
connected  subjects,  to  be  considered  together ; 
that  the  right  of  the  Houses  of  Congress  to  be  in- 
formed as  to  the  acts  of  the  Executive  Department 
could  not  be  limited  as  claimed ;  and,  finally,  that 
the  particular  resolution  called  for  papers  relating 
to  the  management  of  his  office  by  the  officer  sus- 


THE   PRESIDENT  103 

pended,  which  was  a  proper  subject  of  inquiry, 
even  if  there  had  been  no  suspension — or  if  a  suc- 
cessor had  already  been  confirmed.  The  particular 
injustice  complained  of  by  the  Republicans  was  the 
removal  of  public  officers  upon  charges,  and  the 
denial  of  the  requests  of  such  officers  to  be  advised 
as  to  the  nature  of  the  charges.  The  Tenure  of 
Office  law  was  passed  in  1867,  during  the  heated 
controversy  between  President  John-  Tenure  of  Offlce 
son  and  the  Congress ;  and  the  con- 
stitutionality of  the  law  was  denied  by  many  able 
lawyers.  It  prohibited  the  removal  of  any  officer 
during  his  term  without  the  advice  and  consent  of 
the  Senate,  but  gave  the  President  power  to  sus- 
pend until  the  end  of  the  next  session  of  the  Sen- 
ate. The  law  was  repealed  in  1887. 

The  Constitution  provides  that  the  President 
may  "  fill  up  all  vacancies  that  may  happen  during 
the  recess  of  the  Senate,  by  granting  vacation  AP- 
commissions  which  shall  expire  at  the  P°intments- 
end  of  their  next  session."  There  are  a  great  many 
such  appointments  made,  and  the  commissions  all 
run,  in  the  language  of  the  Constitution,  until  the 
expiration  of  the  next  session  of  the  Senate.  When 
the  Senate  meets  all  of  these  vacation  appoint- 
ments are  sent  in  for  confirmation.  If  they  are 
confirmed,  new  commissions,  for  the  full  legal  terms 
of  the  offices,  are  issued.  If  they  are  rejected,  new 


104  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

nominations  should  be  made,  and  if,  as  sometimes 
happens,  the  Senate  adjourns  without  taking  any 
action,  the  vacation  appointment  expires  by  its  own 
limitation  and  must  be  renewed  or  another  made. 
The  power  of  removal  has  been  generally  regarded 
as  an  incident  of  the  power  of  appointment,  and  as 
necessary  to  enable  the  President  to  fulfil  his  duty 
to  see  the  laws  executed ;  but  during  the  sessions 
of  the  Senate  he  cannot  put  any  person  into  an 
office  until  the  nomination  is  confirmed.  Of  course, 
the  power  of  removal  does  not  extend  to  such  offi- 
cers as  judges,  who  are  appointed  for  life  and  are 
only  removable  on  impeachment. 

The  sphere  of  the  Cabinet  officers  is  evident  from 
the  descriptive  titles  they  bear.    Their  Departments 

The  cabinet  were  constituted  under  the  Constitu- 
ents. tion  in  the  f0nowing  or(ier .  The  De- 
partment of  Foreign  Affairs,  organized  July  27, 
1789,  was  permanently  established  as  the  State  De- 
partment by  the  Act  of  Congress  passed  September 
15, 1789.  The  Treasury  Department  was  constituted 
September  2,  1789 ;  the  War  Department,  August 
7,  1789  ;  the  Post-Office  Department,  temporarily, 
September  22,  1789,  permanently,  May  8,  1794  ; 
the  office  of  Attorney-General,  September  24,  1789 
(The  Department  of  Justice,  as  such,  was  organized 
June  22,  1870) ;  the  Navy  Department,  April  30, 
1798;  the  Interior  Department,  March  3,  1849; 


THE   PRESIDENT  105 

the  Department  of  Agriculture,  February  9,  1889. 
All  of  these  officers  are  selected  and  nominated  by 
the  President  and  confirmed  by  the  Senate.  It  is 
the  first  important  act  of  the  Administration.  They 
constitute  what  is  called  his  official  family,  and 
their  relations  with  him  are  very  close  and  confi- 
dential. Each  of  them  has  charge  of  a  part  of  the 
public  business  defined  by  law. 

In  all  important  matters  the  President  is  con- 
sulted by  all  the  Secretaries.  He  is  responsible 
for  all  executive  action,  and  almost  Relatlon  to  PreBi. 
everything  that  is  out  of  the  routine 
receives  some  attention  from  him.  Every  impor- 
tant foreign  complication  is  discussed  with  him, 
and  the  diplomatic  note  receives  his  approval. 
The  same  thing  is  true  of  each  of  the  departments. 
Routine  matters  proceed  without  the  knowledge  or 
interference  of  the  President ;  but,  if  any  matter  of 
major  importance  arises  the  Secretary  presents  it 
for  the  consideration  and  advice  of  the  President. 
Only  matters  of  importance  affecting  the  general 
policy  of  the  administration  are  discussed  in  the 
Cabinet  meetings — according  to  my  experience — 
and  votes  are  of  rare  occurrence.  Any  Secretary 
desiring  to  have  an  expression  upon  any  question 
in  his  department  presents  it,  and  it  is  discussed  ; 
but  usually  questions  are  settled  in  a  conference 
between  the  President  and  the  head  of  the  particu- 


106  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

lar  department.  If  there  is  that  respect  and  confi- 
dence that  should  prevail  between  a  President  and 
his  Cabinet  officers  this  consultation  is  on  equal 
terms,  and  the  conclusion  is  one  that  both  support. 
There  should  be  no  question  of  making  a  "  mere 
clerk "  of  the  Cabinet  officer ;  there  is  a  yielding 
of  views,  now  on  one  side,  now  on  the  other ;  but 
it  must,  of  course,  follow  that  when  the  President 
has  views  that  he  feels  he  cannot  yield,  those  views 
must  prevail,  for  the  responsibility  is  his,  both  in 
a  Constitutional  and  popular  sense.  The  Cabinet 
officer  is  a  valued  adviser,  and  it  does  not  often 
happen  that  his  views  and  those  of  the  President 
cannot  be  reconciled.  Professor  Burgess  says : 

In  the  exercise  of  his  powers  the  President  may  ask 
the  advice,  if  he  will,    of  the  heads  of  the  Executive 

Departments,  but  he  is  not  required  to  do 
Not  a  ministry. 

so  by  the  Constitution.     The  words  of  the 

Constitution  are  that  the  President  "  may  require  the 
opinion,  in  writing,  of  the  principal  officer  in  each  of 
the  Executive  Departments,  upon  any  subject  relating 
to  the  duties  of  their  respective  offices."  .  .  .  What 
we  call  the  Cabinet  is,  therefore,  a  purely  voluntary, 
extra-legal  association  of  the  Heads  of  the  Executive 
Departments  with  the  President,  which  may  be  dispensed 
with  at  any  moment  by  the  President,  and  whose  reso- 
lutions do  not  legally  bind  the  President  in  the  slightest 
degree.  They  form  a  privy  council,  but  not  a  ministry.1 

1  Political  Science  and  Constitutional  Law,  2G2-2G3. 


THE   PRESIDENT  107 

The  habit  is  to  give  an  afternoon  to  each  Cabinet 
officer  on  a  fixed  day  of  the  week.  These  meetings 
are  mainly  given  up  to  the  considera- 

Consultations. 

tion  of  appointments,  but  it  any  other 
matters  are  pending,  and  deemed  by  the  Secretary 
of  sufficient  importance,  they  are  presented  and 
discussed.  The  Cabinet  officer  is  chiefly  entitled 
to  the  credit  if  his  department  is  well  administered, 
for  most  things  he  transacts  on  his  own  responsi- 
bility. His  labors  are  incessant  and  full  of  care. 
His  time  is  largely  taken  up  by  callers,  and,  like 
the  President,  he  must,  out  of  such  fragments  of 
time  as  he  can  secure,  manage  to  study  and  decide 
the  important  questions  that  are  daily  presented 
to  him. 

Certain  appointments,  chiefly  of  a  clerical  char- 
acter, are  by  law  given  to  the  heads  of  the  depart- 
ments, and  with  these  the  President  usually  refuses 
to  interfere,  though  often  urged  to  do  so ;  but  he 
spends  many  a  weary  hour  explaining  to  friends 
why  he  cannot  do  so. 

The  Presidential  appointments  in  each  depart- 
ment are  the  subjects  of  consultation.  All  papers 
sent  to  the  President,  relating  to  such  Appointments- 

Congressional  in- 

appointments,    are    referred    to    the  flnence. 
proper  department,  and  there  a  brief  is  made  up, 
showing  the  names  of  the  different  applicants  and 
the  persons  by  whom  they  are  recommended.     It 


108  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

has  come  to  be  a  custom  that,  in  the  appointment 
of  officers  whose  duties  relate  wholly  to  a  Con- 
gressional district,  or  some  part  of  it,  the  advice 
of  the  Congressman — if  he  is  of  the  President's 
party — is  accepted.  This  is  a  mere  matter  of 
custom,  but  it  has  become  so  settled  a  custom 
that  the  President  finds  himself  in  not  a  little 
trouble  if  he  departs  from  it.  In  the  Congres- 
sional districts  represented  by  Congressmen  of  the 
party  opposed  to  the  President  the  custom  is  that 
the  Senator  or  Senators — if  of  the  President's 
party — make  the  recommendations  for  the  local 
appointments ;  as  they  also  do  for  appointments  in 
their  States  not  of  a  local  character.  These  recom- 
mendations are  followed  as  a  rule,  unless  some- 

senatoriai  thing  against  the  character  or  fitness 
of  the  applicant  is  alleged.  In  such 
case  the  President  exercises  his  prerogative  to 
make  a  selection  of  his  own  upon  such  other  repre- 
sentations and  recommendations  as  are  made  to 
him. 

When  he  does  this  the  confirmation  of  the  ap- 
pointment, however  good  and  unexceptionable  in 
itself,  is  often  held  up  in  the  Senate  upon  the 
objection  of  the  Senator  whose  recommendation 
has  not  been  followed,  and  the  nomination  is 
sometimes  rejected — not  upon  the  merits,  but  out 
of  "  Senatorial  courtesy."  The  power  and  duty 


THE   PKESIDENT  109 

of  selection  are  vested  by  the  Constitution  in  the 
President,  but  appointments  are  made  "by  and 
with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate."  It 
would  seem  that  the  power  vested  in  the  Senate 
relates  only  to  the  competency,  fitness,  and  char- 
acter of  the  person  appointed,  but  this  view  is 
much  varied  in  practice.  Some  Senators  practi- 
cally assert  the  right  to  select  as  well  as  to  con- 
sent. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  participation  of 
the  Senate  in  the  matter  of  appointments  is  larger 
than  the  Constitution  contemplates.  But  as  the 
President  can,  in  the  nature  of  things,  know  but 
little  about  the  applicants  for  local  offices,  and  must 
depend  upon  some  one  better  informed  than  he  to 
give  him  the  necessary  information,  it  is  quite  nat- 
ural that  he  should  give  great  weight  to  the  advice  of 
the  Senator  or  Representative.  It  ought,  however, 
to  be  admitted  that  as  the  responsibility  rests  upon 
the  President  he  must  be  satisfied  as  to  the  fitness 
of  the  appointment.  That  being  satisfactorily  es- 
tablished, the  public  interests  are  saved,  for  the 
choice  between  fit  men  is  not  very  important.  If 
there  is  anjr  objection  to  the  appointment,  growing 
out  of  the  character  or  habits  of  the  applicant,  it 
is  pretty  sure  to  be  brought  out ;  and  on  the  whole, 
considering  the  number  of  appointments  the  Presi- 
dent is  required  to  make  without  any  personal 


110  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

knowledge  of  the  appointees,  the  public  service  is 
well  and  honestly  conducted. 

At  the  beginning  of  every  administration  Wash- 
ington fills  up  with  persons  who  desire  some  office 

The  office-seek-     eituer  in   the   States>  in  the   depart- 
ments, or  in  the  foreign  service.  Many 

of  these  persons  have  a  very  limited  purse,  and 
as  the  days  pass  on  this  is  exhausted,  and  im- 
patience and  ill-temper  come  in.  Many  of  them 
are  deserving  and  well-fitted  to  fill  the  offices  they 
seek.  But  it  is  impossible  to  find  places  for  all 
the  deserving,  and  the  position  of  the  President 
is  full  of  trial.  The  suspense  that  the  office-seek- 
er suffers  is  illustrated  by  the  case  of  a  man  who 
thought  he  had  good  reason  to  expect  an  appoint- 
ment from  President  Garfield.  After  he  had  been 
weeks  at  Washington,  and  had  brought  to  bear  all 
the  influence  he  could  command,  a  friend  met  him 
one  day  on  the  street  and  asked  him  how  he  was 
getting  along.  His  answer  was,  "  Very  well,  very 
well,  but  there  is  nothing  focal  yet."  The  answer 
was  wonderfully  expressive,  and  a  good  illustration 
of  the  state  of  uncertainty  which  accompanies  office- 
seeking.  "  Nothing  focal  yet,"  but  a  hope  that  is 
hard  to  kill. 

There  are  few,  if  any,  offices  at  Washington  the 
salaries  of  which  enable  the  incumbent  to  save  any 
money,  and  the  average  experience  of  those  holding 


THE   PRESIDENT  111 

places  in  the  departments  is,  if  they  would  express  it, 
that  private  business  offers  better  returns  and  gives 
a  better  chance  for  advancement.  The  civil  service 
law  has  given  a  measure  of  security  to  the  depart- 
ment clerk,  but  even  with  this  protection  there  is  a 
sense  of  insecurity  and  dependence  which  is  not 
found  in  private  pursuits.  But  for  many  persons 
there  is  a  fascination  about  the  National  Capital, 
and  a  zest  and  excitement  in  life  there  that  will 
continue  to  attract  many  a  young  man  who  could 
make  a  much  greater  career  at  home. 

The  Civil  Service  Law  has  removed  a  large  num- 
ber of  minor  offices  in  the  departments  at  Washing- 
ton, and  in  the  postal  and  other  ser- 

Civil  Service. 

vices,  from  the  scramble  of  politics, 
and  has  given  the  President,  the  Cabinet  officers 
and  the  Members  of  Congress  great  relief ;  but  it 
still  remains  true  that  in  the  power  of  appointment 
to  office  the  President  finds  the  most  exacting,  unre- 
lenting, and  distracting  of  his  duties.  In  the  nat- 
ure of  things  he  begins  to  make  enemies  from  the 
start,  and  has  no  way  of  escape — it  is  fate ;  and  to 
a  sensitive  man  involves  much  distress  of  mind. 
His  only  support  is  in  the  good  opinion  of  those 
who  chiefly  care  that  the  public  business  shall  be 
well  done,  and  are  not  disturbed  by  the  consider- 
ation whether  this  man  or  that  man  is  doing  it ; 
but  he  hears  very  little  directly  from  this  class. 


112  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

No  President  can  conduct  a  successful  adminis- 
tration without  the  support  of  Congress,  and  this 
matter  of  appointments,  do  what  he  will,  often 
weakens  that  support.  It  is  for  him  always  a  sort 
of  compromise  between  his  ideal  and  the  best  at- 
tainable thing. 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE  PRESIDENT  (CONTINUED) 

ENFORCEMENT  OF  LAWS  — PEACE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  — AS- 
SAULT ON  JUSTICE  FIELD  —  RAILROAD  STRIKES — ALIENS — USE 
OF  ARMY. 

A  FEW  words  more  about  the  laws  and  the  en- 
forcement of  them.  The  execution  of  the  laws 
usually  proceeds  along  moral  and  Enforcement  of 

J     r  °  the  laws -United 

peaceful  lines,  tor  people  generally  states  marshals. 
neither  violate  the  laws  nor  resist  public  officers. 
But  provision  must  be  made  for  the  arrest  and 
punishment  of  those  who  do,  and  for  the  prompt 
suppression  of  any  organized  resistance,  in  the 
form  of  insurrections,  mobs  or  otherwise.  All  pun- 
ishment must  be  by  the  judgment  of  a  Court.  The 
Executive  Department  can  only  suppress  violence, 
and  arrest  the  law-breakers — the  trial  of  the  ques- 
tion of  guilt  and  the  fixing  of  the  penalty  within 
the  statutory  limits,  is  for  the  Courts.  The  United 
States  Marshals  and  their  deputies  are  the  peace 
officers  of  the  United  States.  They  usually  act 
upon  warrants  or  other  orders  from  the  United 
States  Courts ;  but  they  may  act  in  some  cases 
without  a  writ  from  the  Court.  The  attempt 
8  113 


114  THIS    COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

upon  the  life  of  the  honored  and  venerable  Justice 
Field,  of  the  Supreme  Court,  by  David  S.  Terry, 
Assault  on  jus-  is  an  example.  Justice  Field  had 
tried  a  case  in  which  Terry  was  inter- 
ested, and  for  his  judicial  action  in  that  case  Terry 
had  made  threats  against  the  life  of  the  Justice. 
The  Attorney-General  (Mr.  Miller)  directed  the 
United  States  Marshal  for  the  Northern  District  of 
California  to  afford  the  Justice  protection,  and 
Deputy  Marshal  Neagle  was  detailed  to  that  duty. 
While  the  Justice  was  on  his  way  from  Los  An- 
geles, where  he  had  held  Court,  to  San  Francisco, 
where  he  was  again  to  sit  in  the  Circuit  Court, 
Terry  made  an  assault  upon  him  at  a  railroad  eat- 
ing-house, and  was  killed  by  Deputy  Marshal  Nea- 
gle. Some  interesting  questions  arose :  If  the 
peace  had  been  broken,  was  it  the  peace  of  the 
United  States  or  the  peace  of  the  State  of  Califor- 
nia? Could  the  police  of  the  State  arrest  and 
hold  the  Deputy  Marshal,  and  the  courts  of  the 
State  try  and  punish  him,  or  was  the  question 
whether  the  officer  had  committed  a  crime  one  to 
be  determined  by  the  laws  and  the  courts  of  the 
United  States  ?  The  State  officers  arrested  Nea- 
gle, and  a  State  court  indicted  him.  He  was 
taken  on  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  issued  by  the 
United  States  Circuit  Court,  from  the  State  offi- 
cers, and  brought  before  that  Court  and  dis- 


THE   PRESIDENT  115 

charged.  Some  important  and  instructive  things 
were  said  in  the  decision  given  in  the  case  by  the 
Supreme  Court.1 

The  Attorney- General  (Mr.  Miller),  in  his  brief, 
said : 

Argument  certainly  cannot  be  necessary  to  show  the 
duty  of  the  Executive  Department  of  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  to  protect  the  Courts  and  Judges  in 
the  discharge  of  their  duties.  Indeed,  it  is  hardly  sup- 
posed that  this  will  be  questioned.  The  President,  as 
the  head  of  that  Executive  Department,  is  under  the 
Constitutional  obligation  to  take  care  that  the  laws  be 

faithfully  executed.     To  the  end  that  he 

President    may 
may,  in  every  contingency,  discharge  this   use  Army  &n'd 

NflVY 

duty  he  is  made  Commander-in-Chief  of 

the  Army  and  Navy,  and  of  the  militia  of  the  several 

States  when  called  into  active  service. 

Justice  Miller,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Court, 
quotes  from  the  opinion  of  Justice  Bradley  in  Ex 
parte  Siebold,  100  U.  S.,  as  follows  : 

We  hold  it  to  be  an  incontrovertible  principle  that 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  may,  by  means  of 
physical  force,  exercised  through  its  official  agents,  exe- 
cute on  every  foot  of  American  soil  the  powers  and 
functions  that  belong  to  it.  This  necessarily  involves 
the  power  to  command  obedience  to  its  laws,  and  hence 
the  power  to  keep  the  peace  to  that  extent.  This  power 
to  enforce  its  laws  and  to  execute  its  functions  in  all 

1  135  U.  S.,  p   1. 


116  THIS   COUNTRY    OF   OURS 

places  does  not  derogate  from  the  power  of  the  State  to 
execute  its  laws  at  the  same  time  and  in  the  same  places. 
The  one  does  not  exclude  the  other,  except  where  both 
cannot  be  executed  at  the  same  time.  In  that  case  the 
words  of  the  Constitution  itself  show  which  is  to  yield. 
' '  This  Constitution,  and  all  laws  which  shall  be  made  in 
pursuance  thereof,  .  .  .  shall  be  the  supreme  law 
of  the  land."  .  .  .  Without  the  concurrent  sover- 
eignty referred  to,  the  National  Govern- 
United  States 

not  an  advisory   ment  would  be  nothing  but  an  advisory 
Government. 

Government.  Its  executive  power  would 
be  absolutely  nullified.  Why  do  we  have  marshals  at 
all,  if  they  cannot  physically  lay  their  hands  on  persons 
and  things  in  the  performance  of  their  proper  duties? 
What  functions  can  they  perform  if  they  cannot  use  force? 
In  executing  the  processes  of  the  Courts,  must  they  call 
on  the  nearest  constable  for  protection  ?  Must  they  rely 
on  him  to  use  the  requisite  compulsion,  and  to  keep  the 
peace,  whilst  they  are  soliciting  and  entreating  the  par- 
ties and  bystanders  to  allow  the  law  to  take  its  course  ? 
This  is  the  necessary  consequence  of  the  positions  that 
are  assumed.  If  we  indulge  in  such  impracticable  views 
as  these,  and  keep  on  refining  and  re-refining,  we  shall 
drive  the  National  Government  out  of  the  United  States, 
and  relegate  it  to  the  District  of  Columbia,  or  perhaps  to 
some  foreign  soil.  We  shall  bring  it  back  to  a  condition 
of  greater  helplessness  than  that  of  the  old  confederation. 
.  .  .  It  must  execute  its  powers,  or  it  is  no  Govern- 
ment. It  must  execute  them  on  the  land  as  well  as  on 
the  sea,  on  things  as  well  as  on  persons.  And,  to  do  this, 
it  must  necessarily  have  power  to  command  obedience, 
preserve  order,  and  keep  the  peace  ;  and  no  person  nor 


THE    PRESIDENT  117 

power  in  this  land  has  the  right  to  resist  or  question  its 
authority  so  long  as  it  keeps  within  the  bounds  of  its 
jurisdiction. 

Justice  Miller  then  says : 

Is  this  duty  limited  to  the  enforcement  of  acts  of  Con- 
gress or  of  treaties  of  the  United  States  according  to  their 
express  terms,  or  does  it  include  the  rights,  duties,  and 
obligations  growing  out  of  the  Constitution  itself,  our 
international  relations,  and  all  the  protection  implied 
by  the  nature  of  the  Government  under  the  Constitu- 
tion? 

So  if  the  President  or  the  Postmaster-General  is 
advised  that  the  mails  of  the  United  States,  possibly 
carrying  treasure,  are  liable  to  be  robbed  and  the  mail- 
carriers  assaulted  and  murdered  in  any  particular  region 
of  country,  who  can  doubt  the  authority  of  the  Presi- 
dent or  of  one  of  the  Executive  Departments  under  him  to 
make  an  order  for  the  protection  of  the  mail  and  of  the 
persons  and  lives  of  its  carriers,  by  doing  exactly  what 
was  done  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Justice  Field,  namely,  pro- 
viding a  sufficient  guard,  whether  it  be  by  soldiers  of 
the  army  or  by  Marshals  of  the  United  States,  with  a 
posse  comitatus  properly  armed  and  equipped,  to  secure 
the  safe  performance  of  the  duty  of  carrying  the  mail 
wherever  it  may  be  intended  to  go  ? 

And  again : 

That  there  is  a  peace  of  the  United  States  ;  that  a  man 
assaulting  a  Judge  of  the  United  States  while  in  the 


118  THIS    COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

discharge  of  his  duties  violates  that  peace  ;  that  in  such 

case  the  Marshal  of  the  United  States  stands  in  the  same 

relation  to  the  peace  of  the  United  States 

There  is  a  peace        ,.,,•.         ,       ./»     c  *i. 

of  the  United  which  the  sheriff  of  the  county  does  to 
the  peace  of  the  State  of  California,  are 
questions  too  clear  to  need  argument  to  prove  them. 

The  Court  held  that  Justice  Field,  while  travel- 
ling to  the  places  where  he  was  to  discharge  judi- 
cial duties,  was  as  fully  entitled  to  the  protection 
of  the  United  States  as  while  actually  sitting  upon 
the  bench. 

The  laws  that  the  President  must  enforce  are, 
of  course,  only  the  laws  of  the  United  States. 
With  the  matter  of  resistance  to  the  laws  of  a 
State  he  has  nothing  to  do,  save  as  will  be  pres- 
ently explained.  But  the  power  and  duty  of  the 
President  to  suppress  mob  violence  happening  in 
the  States  is  broader  than  the  old  thought  and 
practice  in  such  matters.  During  the  great  rail- 
roa(^  s^r^e  °^  1^77  the  United  States 


Raiiroad  strike 

troops   were   not   used   in   any   case 

except  where  the  Governor  or  Legislature  of  the 
State  called  upon  the  President  for  aid,  under 
Section  4  of  Article  4  of  the  Constitution,  which 
declares  that  the  United  States  shall  protect  the 
States  against  invasion  ;  and,  "  on  application  of 
the  Legislature,  or  of  the  Executive  (when  the 
Legislature  cannot  be  convened),  against  domestic 


THE   PRESIDENT  119 

violence  " ;  and  except,  also,  to  support  the  United 
States  Marshals  in  making  arrests  on  process 
from  the  United  States  Courts.  At  some  points 
during  the  strike  of  1877  the  strikers  thought  to 
evade  the  interference  of  the  President  and  of  the 
United  States  Courts  by  permitting  mail-cars  to 
be  run,  while  cutting  off  all  freight  and  pas- 
senger traffic.  The  question  whether  the  stop- 
page of  passenger  and  freight  traffic  between 
the  States  was  not  an  offense  against  the  United 
States  was  not  much  considered,  if  at  all.  In  some 
cases  where  particular  railroads  were  in  the  hands 
of  receivers  appointed  by  the  United  States 
Courts,  interference  with  the  running  of  trains  on 
such  roads  was  treated  as  a  contempt  of  the  Court, 
and  some  persons  were  arrested  and  punished  as 
for  contempt. 

Subsequently  a  broader  view  was  taken  of  the 
powers  of  the  United  States  Courts  and  of  the 
President,  and  a  jurisdiction  was  Highways  of  in- 

•       11  i      11      i    i      -i          11          terstate  commerce 

exercised  by  each  that  had  not  be-  and  the  maiie. 
fore  in  like  cases  been  exercised,  but  was  clearly 
within  the  scope  of  their  Constitutional  powers. 
It  was  held  that  a  mail-train  was  composed  not 
only  of  postal-cars,  but  of  such  other  cars  as 
were  usually  drawn  with  the  postal-cars  in  the 
train;  that  the  railroad  companies  could  not 
be  required  to  run  mail-cars,  when  prevented 


120  THIS   COUNTEY    OF   OtJBS 

by  violence  from  hauling  with  them  other  coaches 
assigned  to  the  train ;  and  that  any  cutting  out  of 
cars  from  a  mail-train  was  an  interference  with  the 
transportation  of  the  United  States  mails.  It  was 
also  held  that  the  stoppage  of  trains — freight  or 
passenger — running  from  one  State  into  another — 
that  is,  conducting  interstate  commerce — or  the 
tearing  up  of  or  obstructing  the  tracks  over  which 
such  interstate  commerce  was  carried,  was  an  offense 
against  the  peace  of  the  United  States.  Such  an 
offense  may  be  enjoined  by  the  Courts,  and  the 
Army  of  the  United  States  may  be  used  by  the 
President  to  restore  order,  without  waiting  for  any 
call  from  the  State  Legislature  or  the  Governor  for 
state  call  for  aid  assistance.  It  is  not  "  domestic  vio- 

Domestic  violence.    lence>»    in    the     senge    Qf    faQ    section 

just  quoted,  but  an  attack  upon  the  powers  of  the 
National  Government,  and  neither  the  request  nor 
the  consent  of  the  State  is  needed  to  give  the  Presi- 
dent a  right  to  use  the  means  placed  in  his  hands 
by  the  Constitution,  to  preserve  the  peace  of  the 
United  States,  and  to  see  that  the  mails  and  inter- 
state commerce  are  neither  stopped  nor  impeded 
by  violence.  A  strike  of  violence  affecting  a  street 
railway  in  a  city,  or  a  shop  or  factory  or  coal  mine, 
or  other  local  interest,  or  a  riot  raised  for  the 
lynching  of  a  prisoner  charged  with  an  offence 
against  the  State — all  these  must  be  dealt  with  by 


THE   PRESIDENT  121 

the  State  authorities,  save  that,  as  has  been  seen, 
the  President  may  be  called  upon  for  aid  by  the 
Legislature  or  Governor. 

There  is  a  class  of  persons  residing  in  the  States 
to  whom  the  direct  protection  of  the  United  States 
is  due,  though  no  proper  legislation  has  yet  been 
passed  to  make  it  effective.  These  are  citizens  of 
foreign  countries  who,  under  the  treaties  we  have 
with  such  countries,  are  domiciled  in  the  States, 
and  to  whom  such  treaties  guarantee  the  protec- 
tion of  the  law.  As  yet  Congress  Rights  of  aliens 

i  11       •   i    ,     i   •         •         ,1       -FT    •,     -,     —New  Orleans 

has  not  legislated  to  give  the  United 


States  Courts  jurisdiction  of  prosecutions  for  of- 
fences against  such  persons,  in  derogation  of  their 
treaty  rights.  The  killing  of  some  Italian  sub- 
jects in  New  Orleans,  in  March,  1891,  and  the  de- 
mand of  the  Italian  Government  for  the  punish- 
ment of  the  offenders,  and  for  an  indemnity, 
brought  this  strange  and  unsatisfactory  condition 
of  things  very  strongly  to  the  attention  of  our 
Government.  The  United  States  had  made  a 
treaty  with  Italy  giving  certain  rights  to  the  sub- 
jects of  that  kingdom  living  in  this  country.  Yet, 
when  the  demand  was  made  upon  the  United 
States  that  the  offenders  should  be  tried  and  pun- 
ished, we  could  only  say,  We  are  powerless  ;  we 
have  left  that  to  the  State  authorities  and  can  only 
suggest  that  proceedings  be  taken  by  them.  This 


122  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OUES 

was  manifestly  unsatisfactory.     The  United  States 

made  the  treaty.     Italy  could  not  make  a  treaty 

with  Louisiana,  nor  demand  an  indemnity  of  her. 

In  a  message  to  Congress  the  President  said  : 

The  lynching  at  New  Orleans  in  March  last  of  eleven 
men  of  Italian  nativity  by  a  mob  of  citizens  was  a  most 
deplorable  and  discreditable  incident.  It  did  not,  how- 
ever, have  its  origin  in  any  general  animosity  to  the 
Italian  people,  nor  in  any  disrespect  to  the  Government 
of  Italy  with  which  our  relations  were  of  the  most 
friendly  character.  The  fury  of  the  mob  was  directed 
against  these  men  as  the  supposed  participants  or  acces- 
sories in  the  murder  of  a  city  officer.  I  do  not  allude  to 
this  as  mitigating  in  any  degree  this  offence  against  law 
and  humanity,  but  only  as  affecting  the  international 
questions  which  grew  out  of  it.  It  was  at  once  repre- 
sented by  the  Italian  Minister  that  several  of  those  whose 
lives  had  been  taken  by  the  mob  were  Italian  subjects, 
and  a  demand  was  made  for  the  punishment  of  the  par- 
ticipants, and  for  an  indemnity  to  the  families  of  those 
who  were  killed.  .  .  . 

The  views  of  this  Government  as  to  its  obliga- 
tions to  foreigners  domiciled  here  were  fully  stated 
in  the  correspondence,  as  well  as  its  purpose  to 
make  an  investigation  of  the  affair,  with  a  view  to 
determine  whether  there  were  present  any  circum- 
stances that  could,  under  such  rules  of  duty  as 
had  been  indicated,  create  an  obligation  upon  the 
United  States. 


THE   PRESIDENT  123 

The  President  further  said : 

Some  suggestions  growing  out  of  this  unhappy  inci- 
dent are  worthy  the  attention  of  Congress.  It  would, 
I  believe,  be  entirely  competent  for  Congress  to  make 
offences  against  the  treaty  rights  of  foreigners  domiciled 
in  the  United  States  cognizable  in  the  Federal  Courts. 
This  has  not,  however,  been  done.  ...  It  seems 
to  me  to  follow,  in  this  state  of  the  law,  that  the  officers 
of  the  State  charged  with  police  and  judicial  powers  in 
such  cases  must,  in  the  consideration  of  international 
questions  growing  out  of  such  incidents,  be  regarded  in 
such  sense  as  Federal  agents  as  to  make  this  Government 
answerable  for  their  acts  in  cases  where  it  would  be  an- 
swerable if  the  United  States  had  used  its  Constitu- 
tional power  to  define  and  punish  crimes  against  treaty 
rights. 

Like  incidents  have  frequently  occurred  and 
will  occur  again,  and  Congress  should  so  legislate 
as  to  give  the  United  States  Courts  appropriate 
powers  to  protect  those  who  are  here  in  the  "  peace 
of  the  United  States." 

We  have  often  heard  it  said  that  the  United 
States  protects  Americans  domiciled  in  a  foreign 
country  from  injury,  sending  fleets  to  Protection  of 

e  i  TTLj.Ti.-j.jM       citi,26118      against 

enforce  our  demands,  but  that  it  fails  violence. 
to  give  protection  to  our  citizens  at  home,  against 
unjust  or  oppressive  laws,  or  the  unlawful  and  vio- 
lent destruction  of  their  property  or  lives,  or  the 
denial  of  their  political  rights.     The  statement  has 


124  THIS   COUNTRY   OF  OURS 

a  good  deal  of  truth  in  it.  But  the  explanation  is 
that  in  the  one  case  the  Constitution  and  laws 
have  given  the  power  to  the  President  to  act;  and, 
in  the  other,  have  in  a  large  measure,  left  to  the 
States  the  control  of  elections  and  the  duty  to 
protect  citizens  from  injuries  to  their  persons  or 
property. 

The  Constitution  declares  that  "  the  President 

shall   be  Commander-in-Chief  of   the   Army  and 

President  is  Navy  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the 

Commander  -  in  -  .    . 

chief.  militia   of   the   several  States   when 

called  into  the  actual  service  of  the  United  States." 
Undoubtedly  he  might  assume  the  command  in 
person — take  the  field  and  conduct  military  opera- 
tions— but  he  has  never  done  so  and  is  not  likely 
to  do  so.  The  other  duties  laid  upon  him  make 
it  practically  impossible  that  he  should  do  so,  at 
least  for  any  length  of  time.  But  he  does  com- 
mand through  others,  and  his  order  to  any  com- 
manding officer  is  imperative.  Mr.  Lincoln  fol- 
lowed the  movements  of  our  armies  during  the 
Civil  War  very  closely,  and  often  expressed,  with 
rare  good  judgment,  to  the  commanding  officer, 
views  as  to  the  proper  use  of  his  troops ;  but  he 
did  this  in  a  suggestive  rather  than  an  imperative 
form. 

Justice  Miller,  in  his  lectures  on  the  Constitu- 
tion, says : 


THE   PRESIDENT  125 

How  far  President  Lincoln  actually  interposed  his  own 
will  and  his  own  judgment  in  the  conduct  of  this  war 
will  perhaps  never  be  fully  known,  though  it  is  well  un- 
derstood that  on  many  important  occasions,  and  in  great 
emergencies,  he  enforced  his  judgment  in  many  ways ; 
mainly,  however,  in  displacing  commanders  of  large 
armies  and  appointing  others,  until  success  established 
his  own  confidence  and  the  confidence  of  the  public  in  a 
few  great  military  leaders.1 

The  President  cannot  declare  war.  Congress 
must  do  that.  But  that  the  provision  of  the  Con- 
stitution making  him  Commander-in-  Congre88  must 
Chief  was  intended  to  confer  upon  declarewar- 
the  President  the  power  to  use  military  force  in 
executing  the  laws,  and  in  protecting  the  property 
of  the  United  States  and  its  officers  in  the  dis- 
charge of  their  duties,  there  can  be  no  doubt.  It 
would  not  be  appropriate  here  to  discuss  the  va- 
rious limitations  that  Congress  has  imposed,  or  at- 
tempted to  impose,  upon  the  power  of  the  Presi- 
dent to  use  the  army  in  enforcing  the  laws.  The 
people  are  very  properly  jealous  of  the  interfer- 
ence of  the  military  in  civil  affairs,  and  will  justify 
it  only  in  cases  of  obvious  necessity.  This  con- 
sideration, and  the  liability  to  impeachment  for 
any  improper  use  of  his  powers,  will  always  make 
the  use  of  the  a-rmy,  by  the  President,  to  keep  the 
peace,  a  matter  of  last  resort. 

1  Miller  on  the  Constitution,  p.  164. 


CHAPTER    VIII 

THE  PEESIDENT  (CONTINUED) 

How  BILLS  ARE  DEALT  WITH — THE  VETO — APPROVAL  OF  BILLS — 
"POCKET  VETO  "— "  RIDEHS  " — THEORY  OF  THE  VETO — PRAC- 
TICE— THE  TREATY-MAKING  POWER — ACTION  IN  SENATE — PAR- 
TICIPATION OF  THE  HOUSE — ABROGATION. 

THE  President,  by  the  power  of  the  veto,  be- 
comes a  very  large  factor  in  determining  whether 
a  bill  shall  become  a  law.     Section  7 

The  veto  power.  „    .  . 

of  Article  1  contains  the  grant  01  this 
power,  and  reads,  in  part,  as  follows  : 

Every  bill  which  shall  have  passed  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives and  the  Senate,  shall,  before  it  become  a 
law,  be  presented  to  the  President  of  the  United  States  ; 
if  he  approve  he  shall  sign  it,  but  if  not  he  shall  return 
it,  with  his  objections,  to  that  House  in  which  it  shall 
have  originated,  who  shall  enter  the  objections  at  large 
on  their  journal,  and  proceed  to  reconsider  it.  If  after 
such  reconsideration  two-thirds  of  that  House  shall 
agree  to  pass  the  bill,  it  shall  be  sent,  together  with  the 
objections,  to  the  other  House,  by  which  it  shall  like- 
wise be  reconsidered,  and  if  approved  by  two-thirds  of 
that  House,  it  shall  become  a  law.  But  in  all  cases  the 
votes  of  both  Houses  shall  be  determined  by  yeas  and 
nays,  and  the  names  of  the  persons  voting  for  and 
against  the  bill  shall  be  entered  on  the  journal  of  each 
126 


THE   PRESIDENT  127 

House  respectively.  If  any  bill  shall  not  be  returned  by 
the  President  within  ten  days  (Sundays  excepted)  after 
it  shall  have  been  presented  to  him,  the  same  shall  be  a 
law,  in  like  manner  as  if  he  had  signed  it,  unless  the 
Congress  by  their  adjournment  prevent  its  return,  in 
which  case  it  shall  not  be  a  law. 

There  was  much  discussion  in  the  Constitutional 
Convention  upon  the  subject  of  the  veto.  Some 
thought  an  absolute  veto  necessary  to  Discussion  in 
enable  the  Executive  department  to  Con™ntion. 
preserve  its  constitutional  powers  against  the  en- 
croachments of  the  Legislative  department ;  some 
thought  the  justices  should  be  associated  with  the 
President  in  the  use  of  the  veto  power ;  and  others 
were  opposed  to  any  Executive  check  upon  the 
powers  of  the  Legislature.  Dr.  Franklin  contributed 
to  the  discussion  this  remarkable  statement : 

He  had  had  some  experience  of  this  check  in  the  Ex- 
ecutive on  the  Legislature,  under  the  Proprietary  Gov- 
ernment of  Pennsylvania.  The  negative  of  the  Gov- 
ernor was  constantly  made  use  of  to  extort  money.  No 
good  law  whatever  could  be  passed  without  a  private 
bargain  with  him.  An  increase  of  his  salary,  or  some 
donation,  was  always  made  a  condition  ;  till  at  last  it 
became  the  regular  practice  to  have  orders  in  his  favor, 
on  the  Treasury,  presented  along  with  the  bills  to  be 
signed,  so  that  he  might  actually  receive  the  former 
before  he  should  sign  the  latter. l 

'Elliot's  Debates,  vol.  5,  p.  152. 


128  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

When  a  bill  has  passed  both  Houses  of  Congress 
and  has  been  signed  by  the  President  of  the  Senate 

HowthePmudent  and  the  Speaker  of  the  House,  it  is 
deals  with  bins.    takenj  by  the  cletk  of  the  Committee 

on  Enrolled  Bills,  to  the  Executive  Mansion,  where 
the  date  of  its  delivery  is  stamped  upon  it.  The 
practice  is  then  to  send  the  bill  to  the  head  of  the 
department  to  which  its  subject-matter  belongs — 
to  the  War  Department,  if  to  army  matters ;  to  the 
Interior,  if  to  pensions,  or  public  lands,  or  Indian 
affairs,  etc. — for  the  examination  of  the  Secretary, 
and  for  a  report  from  him  as  to  any  objections  that 
may  occur  to  him.  As  to  the  frame  of  the  bill,  and 
as  to  any  Constitutional  questions  involved,  the 
Attorney-General  is  often  consulted,  though  the  bill 
does  not  relate  to  his  department.  The  President 
then  takes  up  the  bill,  with  the  report  from  the  de- 
partment, and  examines  it,  and  if  he  approves 
writes  thereon  "  Approved,"  giving  the  date,  and 
signs  his  name.  The  bill,  now  become  a  law,  is 
then  sent  to  the  State  Department  to  be  filed  and 
published  in  the  Statutes-at-Large. 

If  the  President  finds  such  objections  to  the  bill 
as  to  prevent  him  from  giving  it  his  approval  two 
courses  are  open  to  him.  He  may,  at  any  time 
within  ten  days  (Sundays  not  counted)  from  the 
time  it  was  brought  to  him,  return  the  bill  to  the 
Senate  or  to  the  House — according  as  the  bill  was 


THE   PRESIDENT  129 

first  passed  by  the  one  or  the  other — with  a  mes- 
sage stating  his  objections  to  it ;  or  he  may  suffer 
the  bill  to  lie  upon  his  table,  taking  no  action 
whatever  upon  it.  If  he  takes  no  action  then 
the  fate  of  the  bill  turns  upon  whether  Congress 
remains  in  session  during  the  ten  days — and  by  this 
is  not  meant  that  both  Houses  shall  be  in  session 
every  legislative  day  of  the  ten.  If  it  does  the  bill 
becomes  a  law  ;  if  it  does  not,  the  bill  fails — does 
not  become  a  law.  In  the  Statutes-at-Large  of  the 
United  States  many  laws  are  found  which  do  not 
have  the  President's  signature.  These  are  usually 
acts  of  small  moment — relief  bills  or  such  like, 
which  he  could  not  approve,  but  did  not  deem  of 
sufficient  moment  to  be  the  subject  of  a  veto 
message. 

But,  now  and  then,  laws  of  a  general  nature  and 
of  the  highest  importance  appear  without  the 
President's  signature.  Mr.  Cleveland  allowed  the 
Tariff  Bill  of  August,  1894  (known  as  the  Wilson 
Bill),  to  become  a  law  without  his  signature.  If 
Congress  adjourns  before  the  expiration  of  the  ten 
days  given  to  the  President  for  the  consideration 
of  a  bill,  and  he  does  not  sign  it,  but  retains  it 
without  action,  it  fails,  as  has  been  The  „  pocket 
said.  This  is  called  a  "  pocket  veto." 
It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  as  to  bills  pre- 
sented to  the  President  during  the  last  ten  days  of 
9 


130  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

a  session  of  Congress  his  veto  is  an  absolute,  not 
a  qualified,  one.  He  has  only  to  do  nothing,  and 
the  bill  fails.  The  object  clearly  was  to  secure  to 
the  President  proper  time  for  the  examination  of 
all  bills.  If  a  flood  of  bills  could  be  thrown  upon 
him  in  the  last  ten  days  of  the  session,  thus  de- 
priving him  of  a  proper  time  for  examining  them, 
and  they  were  to  become  laws  unless  he  stated  his 
objections  in  veto  messages,  it  would  practically 
abrogate,  as  to  many  bills,  the  veto  power.  In  fact, 
iust  such  a  flood  of  bills  is  usually 

A  flood  of  bills.  * 

passed,  many  in  the  very  last  hours  of 
the  session,  when  the  attendance  in  the  Houses 
is  small,  the  members  wearied  by  night  sessions, 
and  many  of  the  leading  members  absent  from 
their  seats,  serving  on  conference  committees. 
Every  interval  in  the  consideration  of  the  appro- 
priation bills  is  eagerly  watched  for  and  utilized 
by  members  who  have  some  personal  relief  bill  or 
some  bill  of  a  local  character  that  they  want  to  get 
through.  This  hasty  legislation  needs  especial 
scrutiny,  and  it  is  well  that  when  he  is  in  doubt, 
and  has  no  time  to  investigate,  the  President  can 
use  the  "pocket  veto."  It  sometimes  happens  that 
an  important  appropriation  bill  is  passed  in  the 
very  last  moments  of  the  session,  and,  indeed,  by 
the  true  time,  after  the  session  is  ended — for  the 
hands  of  the  clocks  in  the  chambers  are  sometimes 


THE   PRESIDENT  131 

turned  back  to  gain  a  few  moments  to  complete 
the  passage  of  a  bill.  The  President,  in  recent 
times,  generally  goes  to  his  reception-room  in  the 
Senate  wing  of  the  Capitol  in  the  last  hours  of  the 
session,  especially  if  some  of  the  appropriation 
bills  are  not  yet  disposed  of,  in  order  to  save  the 
time  that  would  otherwise  be  necessary  to  carry  the 
bills  to  the  Executive  Mansion. 

A  Constitutional  Amendment  forbidding  Con- 
gress to  pass  any  laws  in  the  last  twenty-four  hours 
of  a  session,  save  such  as  might  have  been  re- 
turned with  a  veto,  was  suggested  by  President 
Grant.  The  object  of  this  suggestion  was  "  to 
give  the  Executive  an  opportunity  to  examine  and 
approve  or  disapprove  bills  understandingly."  But 
it  would  be  no  remedy  for  hasty  legislation  ;  for 
the  last  day  would  then,  as  an  Irishman  might  say, 
"  be  the  day  before  the  last,"  and  the  same  rush 
and  hurry  would  characterize  it. 

There   is   another  practice   in    legislation  that 
greatly  restrains  the  freedom  of  the  President  in 
using  the  veto  power.  What  are  called    Riderfl 
"  riders  "  are  often  placed  on  general      Pria«°n  ™*- 
appropriation  bills — that  is,  legislation  of  a  general 
character,  having  nothing  to  do  with  appropriations, 
is  put  into  an  appropriation  bill.     This  is  equiva- 
lent to  saying  to  the  President,  "  Give  your  ap- 
proval to  this  general  legislation  or  go  without  the 


132  THIS   COUNTRY    OF   OUKS 

appropriations  necessary  to  carry  on  the  govern- 
ment." President  Hayes  resisted  attempts  by  this 
method  to  impair  the  Constitutional  powers  of  the 
Executive,  and  vetoed  five  appropriation  bills  be- 
cause general  legislation  had  been  incorporated  to 
which  he  could  not  give  his  assent. 

There  are  other  practical   restraints  upon  the 

freedom  of  the  President  in  the  exercise  of  the  veto 

power.    Very  many  laws  contain  more 

Other  restraints.  .    . 

than  one  proposition — some  a  number 
of  such — and  the  President  must  deal  with  them  as 
thus  associated.  In  each  of  the  great  appropria- 
tion bills  many  hundreds  of  distinct  appropriations 
are  made.  Some  of  these  the  President  may  think 
to  be  wrong,  either  as  matter  of  policy,  or  of  Con- 
stitutional power  ;  but  he  cannot  single  these  out ; 
he  must  deal  with  the  bill  as  a  whole.  In  some  of 
the  State  Constitutions  the  Governor  is  given 
power  to  veto  any  item  in  an  appropriation  bill. 

It  has  been  much  contended  that  the  veto  was 

given  to  enable  the  President  to  defeat  legislative 

Theories  of  the    attempts  to  encroach  upon  his  Con- 

veto-practice.     stitutional   powers,    and    to    protect 

those  of  the  Judiciary  ;  and  that  he  should  use  the 

veto  only  where  he  finds  Constitutional  objections 

to  a  bill.     But  the  power  is  not  so  limited,  and 

from  the  beginning  has  been  exercised  upon  the 

ground  of  the  inexpediency  or  unwisdom  of  the 


THE   PRESIDENT  133 

legislation  proposed,  as  well  as  upon  Constitutional 
grounds.  The  President,  however,  does  not  deal 
with  bills  submitted  for  his  approval  upon  the  prin- 
ciple that  he  should  approve  only  such  as  he  would 
have  voted  for  if  he  had  been  a  member  of  Con- 
gress. Much  deference  is  due  to  the  Congress,  and 
vetoes  have  customarily  been  used  only  when  the 
fault  in  the  proposed  legislation  was  serious  in  it- 
self, or  as  a  precedent.  Washington  used  the  veto 
but  twice  ;  once  for  Constitutional  objections,  and 
once  for  reasons  affecting  only  the  wisdom  and  ex- 
pediency of  the  bill. 

Mr.  Edward  Campbell  Mason,  in  his  monograph 
upon  the  veto  power,  says : 

The  veto  is  but  an  appeal  to  the  sober  second  thought 
of  the  nation,  and  when  that  second  thought  is  like  the 
first  the  appeal  can  accomplish  nothing.  Appeal  to  second 
This  seeming  weakness  in  the  veto  is  not  thought, 
a  defect.  The  theory  of  our  Government  is  that  in  the 
long  run  the  people  are  right.  The  veto  would  be  a 
hindrance  if  it  could  permanently  check  the  strong  un- 
derlying tendencies  in  the  public  mind.  And  in  any 
case,  in  a  Government  founded  on  nearly  universal 
suffrage,  a  positive  check  to  popular  measures  is  not 
what  is  wanted.  The  most  that  can  safely  be  done  is  to 
hinder  the  enactment  of  propositions  until  the  people 
can  determine  whether  they  are  really  in  earnest  in  their 
demands  ;  and  this  delay  the  veto  power  is  most  admir- 
ably constructed  to  accomplish. l 

1  Mwon  :  Tht  Veto  Power,  p.   134. 


134  THIS    COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

When  a  bill  is  returned  by  the  President  to  the 
House  in  which  it  originated,  the  veto  message  is 

Action  on  the  read,  and  the  question  is  put :  "  Shall 
the  bill  pass,  the  objections  of  the 
President  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding  ?  "  The 
vote  must  be  taken  by  yeas  and  nays,  and  entered 
on  the  journals.  The  object  of  this  is  that  the 
public  may  know  just  how  each  member  has  voted, 
and  that  the  record  shall  shoAv  whether  or  not 
two-thirds  of  the  members  have  voted  for  the  pas- 
sage of  the  bill.  If  two-thirds  of  each  House  of 
Congress  are  recorded  in  the  affirmative  the  bill 
becomes  a  law.  This  does  not  mean  two-thirds  of 
all  the  members  of  each  House,  but  two-thirds  of 
those  present  and  voting — a  quorum  being  present. 

The  treaty-making  power  is  given  to  the  Presi- 
Treaty-making  ^en^  (^n  connection  with  the  Senate) 
by  the  second  paragraph  of  Section  2 
of  Article  2  of  the  Constitution,  in  these  words : 

He  shall  have  power,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  con- 
sent of  the  Senate,  to  make  treaties,  provided  two-thirds 
of  the  Senators  present  concur. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  initiative — the  nego- 
tiations with  foreign  Governments  leading  up  to 
tin  agreement — and  the  framing  of  the  articles  of 
the  treaty,  are  with  the  President.  The  Senate 
has  no  part  in  the  matter  until  the  President  com- 


THE   PKESIDETTT  135 

municates  the  treaty  to  it,  and  asks  its  concurrence. 
It  may  then,  however,  either  concur  or  reject,  or 
concur  with  amendments.  The  high  sanction  and 
dignity  of  treaties  is  thus  declared  in  Article  6  of 
the  Constitution : 

This  Constitution,  and  the  laws  of  the  United  States 
which  shall  be  made  in  pursuance  thereof  ;  and  all 
treaties  made,  or  which  shall  be  made,  under  the 
authority  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  the  supreme  law 
of  the  land  ;  and  the  Judges  in  every  State  shall  be 
bound  thereby,  anything  in  the  Constitution  or  laws  of 
any  State  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

The  power  to  make  treaties  is  explicitly  denied 
to  the  States  by  Section  10  of  Article  1  of  the 
Constitution  :  "  No  State  shall  enter 

Denied  to  States. 

into  any  treaty,  alliance,  or  conied- 

eration."    And  the  third  clause  of  the  same  section 

declares  that  "  no  State  shall,  without  the  consent 

of  Congress,     .     .     .     enter  into  any  agreement 

or  compact  with  another  State,  or  with  a  foreign 

power." 

When  the  Executive  has  agreed  with  any  foreign 
power  upon  a  treaty,  and  it  has  been  duly  signed 
by  the  Plenipotentiaries  for  their 

Action  in  Senate. 

respective  Governments,  it  is  sent  to 
the  Senate  for  its  concurrence,  and  is  considered 
there  in  secret  session.      Whatever  may  be  said  as 
to  the  wisdom  or  necessity  of  secret  sessions  for 


136  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

other  purposes  it  is  manifestly  often  necessary 
that  treaties,  and  the  discussion  of  them,  be  kept 
in  the  confidence  of  those  charged  with  conclud- 
ing them,  until  they  are  concluded. 

There  was  much  debate  in  the  Constitutional 
Convention  upon  the  section  relating  to  the  treaty- 
making  power.    Mr.  Randolph's  plan 

Plans  in  Conven- 

tion.  gave  to  the  President,  with  the  advice 
and  approbation  of  the  Senate,  the  power  of  mak- 
ing all  treaties.  Mr.  Pinckney's  plan  gave  to  the 
Senate  "  the  sole  and  exclusive  power  to  declare 
war,  and  to  make  treaties."  The  Committee  of 
Detail  recommended  that  "  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States  shall  have  power  to  make  treaties, 
and  to  appoint  ambassadors,"  etc.  At  a  later  day 
Mr.  Madison  proposed  that  the  Senate  should 
have  power  to  conclude  treaties  of  peace  without 
the  concurrence  of  the  President.  This  proposi- 
tion went  upon  the  theory  that  the  President 
might,  by  reason  of  the  increased  power  and  in- 
fluence that  a  state  of  war  gave  him,  be  inclined  to 
prolong  a  war  unduly. 

Nor  was  the  objection  that  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives was  excluded  from  any  participation  in 
participation  of   the   making   of   treaties   overlooked. 
Mr.  Mason  said,  while  the  proposi- 
tion stood  to  lodge  the  treaty-making  power  in  the 
Senate,   that   that   body    "  could  already  sell  the 


THE    PRESIDENT  137 

whole  country  by  means  of  treaties  "  ;  and  again 
that  the  power  might  be  used  to  "  dismember  the 
Union."  Mr.  Morris  proposed  that  no  treaty 
should  be  binding  unless  ratified  by  law,  that  is, 
by  both  Houses.  Mr.  Wilson  said  a  treaty  might 
be  made  "  requiring  all  the  rice  of  South  Carolina 
to  be  sent  to  one  particular  port."  When  the 
clause  was  reported  by  a  committee,  in  about  the 
form  finally  agreed  upon,  Mr.  Wilson  moved  to 
insert  after  the  word  "  Senate "  the  words  "  and 
House  of  Representatives,"  and  said  that  "  as  trea- 
ties are  to  have  the  operation  of  laws,  they  ought 
to  have  the  sanction  of  law  also  " — meaning  that 
the  House  should  concur  with  the  President  and 
Senate  in  the  making  of  a  treaty,  as  in  the  making 
of  a  law. 

But,  though  the  attempts  in  the  Convention  to 
give  the  House  of  Representatives  a  direct  part  in 
the  making  of  treaties  failed,  it  is  Itg  practical 
still  true  that  many  important  treaty  power, 
stipulations  depend  for  their  execution  upon  the 
action  of  the  House.  If  a  treaty  stipulates  for  the 
payment  of  money  by  the  United  States,  the 
money  cannot  be  taken  from  the  Treasury  without 
an  appropriation.  It  may  be  said  that  as  a  treaty 
is  a  part  of  the  "  supreme  law  of  the  land,"  it  is 
the  duty  of  Congress  to  appropriate  the  money 
necessary  to  carry  it  into  effect ;  and  that  in  the 


138  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

making  of  the  appropriation  the  House  has  no 
right  to  consider  the  question  of  the  value  or  pro- 
priety of  the  treaty.  But,  all  the  same,  if  the  ap- 
propriation is  not  made  the  treaty  fails.  This 
question  has  several  times  been  discussed  in  con- 
ference between  the  Senate  and  the  House,  as  also 
the  further  question  whether  commercial  treaties 
which  modified  our  revenue  laws  required  legisla- 
tion to  give  them  effect.  In  1816  the  Senate 
passed  an  act  relating  to  a  commercial  treaty  with 
England.  It  was  in  substance  a  declaration  that 
any  existing  laws  in  conflict  with  the  treaty  should 
be  held  to  be  of  no  effect — upon  the  theory  that 
the  treaty  being  the  later  expression,  and  the  "  su- 
preme law  of  the  land,"  took  effect  without  a  re- 
peal of  the  conflicting  laws,  and  that  only  a  decla- 
ration of  the  fact  was  necessary.  The  House  took 
the  view  that  legislation  adapting  the  laws  to  the 
treaty  was  necessary.  The  conferrees  on  the  part 
of  the  House  reported  : 

Your  committee  understood  the  committee  of  the 
Senate  to  admit  the  principle  contended  for  by  the 
House,  that  whilst  some  treaties  might  not  require, 
others  may  require  legislative  provision  to  carry  them 
into  effect;  that  the  decision  of  the  question  how  far 
such  provision  was  necessary  must  be  founded  upon  the 
peculiar  character  of  the  treaty  itself.  ' 

1  Introductory  note,  Treaties  and  Conventions  of  the  United 
Statos  with  other  Powers,  original  edition,  p,  944. 


THE   PKESIDENT  139 

So  in  the  case  of  the  treaty  with  Russia  for  the 
purchase  of  Alaska  the  House  adopted  a  resolution 
that  "  the  stipulations  of  the  treaty  cannot  be  carried 
into  full  force  and  effect,  except  by  legislation  to 
which  the  consent  of  both  Houses  is  necessary." 1 

In  spite  then  of  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution 
lodging  the  treaty-making  power  in  the  President 
and  the  Senate,  and  declaring  that  "  all  treaties 
made  .  .  .  under  the  authority  of  the  United 
States  shall  be  the  supreme  law  of  the  land,"  we 
have  come  practically  to  recognize  the  fact  that  leg- 
islation is  often  necessary  to  give  this  part  of  the 
"  supreme  law  of  the  land  "  any  effect.  Indeed, 
most  treaties  require  appropriations  for  expenses 
or  indemnities,  or  the  like,  and  commercial  trea- 
ties usually  modify  our  revenue  laws.  If  they  do 
not  of  their  own  force  repeal  conflicting  laws  and 
carry  the  necessary  appropriations,  there  must  be 
legislation.  Usually  appropriations  to  carry  out 
a  treaty  have  been  given  freely  by  the  House ;  but 
there  is  power  to  withhold  them,  and  so  to  defeat 
the  treaty.  As  to  treaties  involving  our  revenue 
laws,  the  House — having  by  the  Constitution  the 
sole  power  to  originate  revenue  bills — has  claimed 
the  right  to  act  upon  a  consideration  of  the  wis- 
dom or  unwisdom  of  the  treaty. 

1  Introductory  note,  Treaties  and  Conventions  of  the  United 
States  with  other  Powers,  original  edition,  p.  944. 


140  THIS    COUNTRY   OF.  OURS 

Many  treaties  contain  a  provision  that  either  of 
the  high  contracting  parties  may,  npon  specified 
Abrogated  by  later  notice,  declare  them  abrogated.  When 
no  such  provision  is  inserted,  and 
the  obligations  assumed  are  not  limited  as  to  time, 
the  common  impression,  perhaps,  is  that  there  are 
only  two  events — the  mutual  consent  of  the  par- 
ties, or  a  state  of  war — that  can  relieve  a  nation 
from  its  solemn  treaty  covenants.  But  it  is  not 
so,  as  to  the  United  States,  at  least,  for  it  has 
been  held  that  an  act  of  Congress,  of  later  date 
than  the  treaty,  may  abrogate  it. 

The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  says 
(Justice  Gray),  in  the  Chinese  Exclusion  case  (149 
U.  S.,  720) : 

In  our  jurisprudence,  it  is  well  settled  that  the  pro- 
visions of  an  act  of  Congress,  passed  in  the  exercise  of 
its  Constitutional  authority,  on  this,  as  on  any  other 
subject,  if  clear  and  explicit,  must  be  upheld  by  the 
Courts,  even  in  contravention  of  express  stipulations  in 
an  earlier  treaty.  As  was  said  by  this  Court  in  Chae 
Chan  Ping's  case,  following  previous  decisions  :  "The 
treaties  were  of  no  greater  legal  obligation  than  the  act 
of  Congress.  By  the  Constitution,  laws  made  in  pur- 
suance thereof  and  treaties  made  under  the  authority  of 
the  United  States  are  both  declared  to  be  the  supreme 
law  of  the  land,  and  no  paramount  authority  is  given 
to  one  over  the  other.  A  treaty,  it  is  true,  is  in  its  nat- 
ure a  contract  between  nations,  and  is  often  merely 


THE   PRESIDENT  141 

promissory  in  its  character,  requiring  legislation  to 
carry  its  stipulations  into  effect.  Such  legislation  will 
be  open  to  future  repeal  or  amendment.  If  the  treaty 
operates  by  its  own  force,  and  relates  to  a  subject  within 
the  power  of  Congress,  it  can  be  deemed  iri  that  partic- 
ular only  the  equivalent  of  a  legislative  act,  to  be  re- 
pealed or  modified  at  the  pleasure  of  Congress.  In 
either  case  the  last  expression  of  the  sovereign  will  must 
control. "  "So  far  as  a  treaty  made  by  the  United  States 
with  any  foreign  nation  can  become  the  subject  of  ju- 
dicial cognizance  in  the  Courts  of  this  country,  it  is 
subject  to  such  acts  as  Congress  may  pass  for  its  enforce- 
ment, modification  or  repeal." 

Under  this  view  of  the  law  two-thirds  of  the 
House  and  two-thirds  of  the  Senate  may,  over  the 
objections  of  the  President,  abrogate  Does  not  work 
a  treaty.  The  unlearned  might  con- 
clude if,  as  the  Supreme  Court  says,  a  treaty  and 
a  law  are  of  equal  force,  and  the  law  overrules 
the  treaty,  because  it  is  a  later  expression  of  the 
sovereign  will  that  a  treaty  later  in  time  than  the 
law  would  override  the  latter.  But  things  do  not 
always  work  both  ways,  and  the  probability  is  that 
this  is  one  of  those  that  do  not.  For  the  Court 
has  held  that  a  law  abrogates  an  earlier  treaty, 
and  Congress  has  apparently  settled  the  principle 
that  a  treaty  does  not  annul  an  earlier  law. 


CHAPTER  IX 
THE  PRESIDENT  (CONTINUED) 

THE  PARDONING  POWER— AMNESTY— MR.  LINCOLN'S  VIEW— AT- 
TEMPT TO  EXCEPT  TREASON  — REPRIEVE  — COMMUTATION— 
IMPEACHMENT — THE  PROCESS — THE  PENALTY — A  RARE  PRO- 
CEEDING—SOME CASES — ANDREW  JOHNSON. 

THE  pardoning  power,  one  of  the  great  executive 
powers,  is  conferred  upon  the  President  in  these 

The    pardoning    WO1<ds  :    " And   he     slla11    have     POWer 

to  grant  reprieves  and  pardons  for 
offences  against  the  United  States,  except  in  cases 
of  impeachment." 

A  pardon  may  be  granted  before  trial.  Such  a 
course  is  very  unusual,  however,  in  the  case  of 
an  individual;  but  it  is  the  usual  method  when 
large  numbers  of  persons  have  become  liable  to 
criminal  prosecutions  for  a  common  or  for  like 
offences,  and  the  Executive  desires  to  set  them 
free  from  the  penalties  of  the  law.  In  such  cases 
the  pardon  takes  the  form  of  a  Proclamation  of 
Amnesty-con-  Amnesty,  and  describes,  not  indi- 
viduals, but  a  class.  Instances  of 
this  form  of  pardon  are  found  in  the  proclamations 

granting  amnesty  to  those  who  took  part  in  the 

142 


THE   PRESIDENT  143 

rebellion,  and  to  the  Mormons  for  offences  against 
the  anti-polygamy  laws.  These  pardons,  as  well 
as  individual  pardons,  may  be  granted  on  condi- 
tions stated,  and  in  such  case  are  available  only 
to  those  who  comply  with  the  conditions. 

In  1862  Congress  passed  an  act  which  purported 
to  authorize  the  President  to  extend  pardon  and 
amnesty  to  persons  who  had  partici-  ^  Unco]n  to 
pated  in  rebellion.  In  December, 
1863,  President  Lincoln  issued  such  a  proclama- 
tion with  conditions,  and  in  his  message  to  Con- 
gress he  said,  "The  Constitution  authorizes  the 
Executive  to  grant  or  withhold  pardon  at  his  own 
absolute  discretion;"  and  Chief  Justice  Chase 
speaks  of  the  law  as  "the  suggestion  of  pardon 
by  Congress,  for  such  it  was,  rather  than  author- 
ity." He  further  said :  "  To  the  Executive  alone 
is  entrusted  the  power  of  pardon ;  and  it  is  granted 
without  limit.  Pardon  includes  amnesty.  It  blots 
out  the  offence,  pardons  and  removes  all  of  its 
penal  consequences.  It  may  be  granted  on  con- 
ditions. .  .  .  Now  it  is  clear  that  the  Legis- 
lature cannot  change  the  effect  of  such  a  pardon 
any  more  than  the  Executive  can  change  a  law."  * 

There  was  a  strenuous  effort  in  the  Constitu- 
tional Convention  to  except  cases  of  treason,  as 
well  as  cases  of  impeachment,  and  the  attempt 

'U.  S.  v.  Kline,  13  Wai.,  147. 


144  THIS    COUNTRY    OF   OURS 

would  not  unlikely  have  succeeded  but  for  the 
difficulty  of  agreeing  as  to  where  the  power  of 
Attempt  to  ex-  pardon  in  such  cases  could  be  better 

cept  treason.          ]()dged   than   jn   the    Executive        The 

pardoning  power  proceeds  upon  the  grounds  that, 
by  reason  of  the  rigidity  of  the  criminal  code,  of 
the  liability  to  error  of  every  human  tribunal,  and 
of  the  possible  discovery  of  such  errors,  or  of  new 
evidence,  after  the  courts  have  ceased  to  have  any 
power  over  the  case  ;  or  by  reason  of  the  existence 
of  extenuating  facts  which  the  courts  could  not 
notice,  or  of  evidence  that  a  partial  execution  of 
the  sentence  has  wrought  out  the  full  results  of 
just  punishment,  there  should  be  lodged  in  some 
officer  or  department  the  power  to  remit  or  miti- 
gate a  sentence.  An.  old  writer  exclaimed,  "  Happy 
the  nation  in  which  pardons  will  be  considered  as 
dangerous."  But  a  humane  and  reasonable  gov- 
Arguments  for  eminent  will  always  provide  a  re- 

power  of  pardon.     serye  pQWer  that  may  be  appealed   to 

to  mitigate  undue  penalties  and  to  rescue  those 
whose  innocence  has  been  disclosed.  Montes- 
quieu says :  "In  Persia,  when  the  King  has  con, 
demned  a  person,  it  is  no  longer  lawful  to  mention 
his  name  or  to  intercede  in  his  favor.  Even  if  the 
Prince  were  intoxicated,  or  non  compos,  the  decree 
must  be  executed."1  The  Supreme  Court  of  the 
1  The  Spirit  of  Laws,  Book  3,  chap.  10. 


THE   PRESIDENT  145 

United  States,1  speaking  of  the  pardoning  power, 
says :  "  Without  such  a  power  of  clemency,  to  be 
exercised  by  some  department  or  functionary  of  a 
government,  it  would  be  most  imperfect  and  de- 
ficient in  its  political  morality'." 

A  reprieve  is  a  temporary  suspension  of  the  exe- 
cution of  a  sentence.  This  power  is  often  used  for 
the  purpose  of  giving  the  President  KeprieVe-an  in- 
time  to  examine  an  application  for  a 
pardon,  or  to  enable  the  condemned  to  furnish  fur- 
ther evidence  in  support  of  such  an  application. 
One  of  our  Presidents  relates  this  incident : 

"  An  application  for  a  pardon  in  behalf  of  a 
man  condemned  to  death  for  murder  was  present- 
ed to  me,  and  after  a  careful  examination  the  ap- 
plication was  denied.  On  the  day  before  the  day 
fixed  for  the  execution  I  arrived  at  the  house  of  a 
friend  on  a  visit,  and  found  that  just  before  my  ar- 
rival a  telegram  had  come  asking  for  a  reprieve  for 
the  condemned  man.  The  message  had  been  tele- 
phoned to  the  house  of  my  host  and  received  by 
his  wife.  Her  sympathies,  and  those  of  the  whole 
household,  were  at  once  enlisted  for  the  poor  fel- 
low, and  though  the  gibbet  was  over  twelve  hun- 
dred miles  away  the  shadow  of  it  was  over  the 
house,  and  I  was  the  hangman.  A  telegram  to  the 
United  States  Marshal,  granting  a  short  reprieve, 

1  Ex  parte  Wells,  18  How.,  310. 
10 


Commutation  of 
sentence. 


146  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OUES 

was  sent,  and  the  day  of  the  execution  was  again 
my  uncomfortable  secret."  It  is  not  a  pleasant 
thing  to  have  the  power  of  life  and  death.  No 
graver  or  more  oppressive  responsibility  can  be 
laid  upon  a  public  officer.  The  power  to  pardon 
includes  the  power  to  commute  a  sentence,  that  is, 
to  reduce  it.  When  the  sentence  is 
death  the  President  may  commute  it 
to  imprisonment  for  life,  or  for  any  fixed  term ; 
and  when  the  sentence  is  imprisonment  for  life,  or 
for  a  fixed  term  of  years,  he  may  reduce  the  term, 
and  if  a  fine  is  imposed  he  may  reduce  the  amount, 
or  remit  it  altogether. 

The  course  of  procedure  in  an  application  for  a 

pardon  is  this  :     A  petition  is  drawn  and  signed 

Applications  for  by   the   applicant   setting   forth   the 

pardon— Proceed-  .  . 

ings.  grounds  of  the  application.     This  is 

usually  accompanied  by  other  petitions  and  letters 
from  citizens  urging  clemency.  The  papers  should 
go  directly  to  the  Attorney-General,  and  if  sent  to 
the  President  are  referred  to  the  Department  of 
Justice  without  examination.  The  first  step  here 
is  to  refer  the  papers  to  the  Judge  and  District 
Attorney  who  tried  the  case,  for  any  statement 
or  recommendation  they  may  be  inclined  to  make. 
In  the  Department  of  Justice  there  is  a  pardon 
clerk,  to  whose  desk  all  papers  relating  to  pardons 
primarily  go.  He  classifies  and  makes  a  brief  of 


THE   PRESIDENT  147 

them,  and  then  forwards  them  to  the  Attorney- 
General,  accompanied  by  a'  letter  stating  his  view 
of  the  case.  The  Attorney -General  then  takes  up 
the  case,  and  after  an  examination  indicates  his 
recommendation  on  the  jacket  inclosing  the  papers, 
and  sends  them  to  the  President.  Here  the  case 
is  decided,  after  a  careful  examination  of  every 
paper,  especially  when  the  sentence  is  a  severe 
one.  The  conclusion  of  the  President,  "  Pardon 
granted,"  or"  Pardon  refused,"  or  "Sentence  com- 
muted to ,"  is  endorsed  upon  the  jacket.  Some- 
times the  President  states  briefly  the  reasons  upon 
which  his  conclusion  is  based.  The  papers  are 
then  returned  to  the  Department  of  Justice,  and 
the  officer  having  the  custody  of  the  prisoner  is 
notified  of  the  conclusion  reached.  The  pardon  is 
prepared  at  the  Department  of  State,  as  the  Great 
Seal  is  there,  and  sent  to  the  President  for  his 
signature. 

There  is  an  increasing  amount  of  pardon  busi- 
ness coming  to  the  President's  desk,  and  he  often 
has  many  cases  waiting  his  action,  increasing  num- 

J        .  ber  of.    Capital 

Offences  against  the  postal  laws,  rev-  cases. 
enue  laws  and  national  banking  laws  make  up  the 
bulk  of  this  business ;  but  cases  of  murder  from 
the  Territories  and  the  District  of  Columbia  are 
quite  frequent.  The  Indian  Territory  has  been 
the  abode  of  lawlessness,  and  crimes  against  hu- 


148  THIS    COUNTRY    OF   OURS 

man  life  have  been  very  common  there.  Until 
recently  crimes  committed  by  or  against  white 
men  in  that  Territory  were  triable  mainly  in  the 
United  States  Court  for  the  Western  District  of 
Arkansas,  at  Fort  Smith,  and  Judge  Parker,  of  that 
District,  has  probably  sentenced  as  many  men  to 
death  as  all  the  other  United  States  judges  com- 
bined. The  gibbet  was  never  taken  down. 

The  papers  in  these  murder  cases  are  usually 
voluminous — a  full  record  or  an  abstract  of  the 
evidence  making  part.  If  the  trial  seems  to  have 
been  fairly  conducted,  and  no  new  exculpatory 
evidence  is  produced,  and  the  sentence  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  unduly  severe,  the  President 
refuses  to  interfere.  He  cannot  weigh  the  evi- 
dence as  well  as  the  judge  and  jury.  They  saw 
and  heard  the  witnesses,  and  he  has  only  a  writing 
before  him.  It  happens  sometimes  that  the  wife 
or  mother  of  the  condemned  man  comes  in  person 
to  plead  for  mercy,  and  there  is  no  more  trying 
ordeal  than  to  hear  her  tearful  and  sobbing  utter- 
ances, and  to  feel  that  a  public  duty  requires  that 
she  be  denied  her  prayer. 

We  have  seen  how  the  President  gets  into  office, 
and  we  will  now  briefly  look  at  the  Constitutional 

Impeachment-    P^OCCSS    of   putting  him   out   of   offic*. 

Section  4  of  Article  2  of  the  Constitu- 
tion provides  that  "  The  President,  Vice-President, 


THE   PKESIDENT  149 

and  all  civil  officers  of  the  United  States,  shall  be 
removed  from  office  on  impeachment  for,  and  con- 
viction of,  treason,  bribery,  or  other  high  crimes 
and  misdemeanors."  "  The  sole  power  of  im- 
peachment "  is  given  to  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, that  is,  the  power  to  resolve  that  an  officer 
shall  be  impeached  for  specified  offenses,  and  to 
prefer  the  charges  or  articles  of  impeachment, 
which  take  the  place  of  an  indictment  in  an  ordi- 
nary criminal  trial.  "  The  sole  power  to  try  all 
impeachments  ''  is  given  to  the  Senate,  and  "  When 
sitting  for  that  purpose,  they  shall  be  on  oath  or 
affirmation.  When  the  President  of  the  United 
States  is  tried,  the  Chief  Justice  shall  preside  ;  and 
no  person  shall  be  convicted  without  the  concur- 
rence of  two-thirds  of  the  members  present."  The 
judgment,  in  case  of  conviction,  ousts 

J       8  Penalty. 

the  officer  from  the  office  he  is  hold- 
ing by  an  express  provision  of  the  Constitution. 
The  Senate  cannot  mitigate  or  change  that  penalty, 
but  it  may  or  may  not  add  the  further  penalty  of 
a  future  disqualification  to  hold  office  under  the 
United  States.  From  the  penalties  imposed  upon 
conviction  by  the  court  of  impeachment  the  Presi- 
dent cannot  relieve  by  pardon.  No  imprisonment, 
or  fine,  can  be  imposed  by  the  Senate  ;  but  the 
impeached  officer  is  still  liable  to  be  indicted  in 
the  courts,  and  may  there  be  made  to  suffer  death, 


150  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

imprisonment,  or  any  other  legal  penalty  for  his 
crime.  Whether  the  Senate  can,  upon  its  own  mo- 

Can  new  trial  be    tion>  Or  UP°n  the  request  of  the  HoUSG 

of  Kepresentatives,  open  a  judgment 
of  conviction  upon  impeachment,  and  set  it  aside, 
is  an  interesting  but  unsettled  question,  as  is 
also  the  question  of  the  liability  to  impeachment 
of  a  person  who  has  by  resignation  retired  from 
office. 

The  use  of  the  process  of  impeachment  has  been, 

and  is  likely  to  continue  to  be,  very  rare.     It  is 

A  rare  and  cum-    the   most   cumbrous   of  all  judicial 

brous  proceeding.    proceedings       The  c]iarges  may  nave 

a,  political  origin  or  character,  and  therefore  tend 
to  bring  party  feeling  into  play,  making  conviction 
difficult — a  two-thirds  vote  of  the  Senate  being  re- 
quired to  convict.  The  meaning  of  the  words 
"other  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors  "  is  uncer- 
tain ;  and  all  this,  with  the  fact  that  the  terms  of 
office  of  the  President  and  his  appointees  are 
short,  tends  to  discourage  the  frequent  use  of  the 
process  of  impeachment.  Mr.  Bryce  says  : 

Impeachment,  of  which  an  account  has  already  been 
given,  is  the  heaviest  piece  of  artillery  in  the  Congres- 
sional arsenal,  but  because  it  is  so  heavy  it  is  unfit  for 
ordinary  use.  It  is  like  a  hundred-ton  gun  which  needs 
complex  machinery  to  bring  it  into  position,  an  enor- 
mous charge  of  powder  to  fire  it,  and  a  large  mark  to 


THE   PRESIDENT  151 

aim  at.  Or  to  vary  the  simile,  impeachment  is  what 
physicians  call  a  heroic  medicine,  an  extreme  remedy, 
proper  to  be  applied  against  an  official  guilty  of  political 
crimes,  but  ill  adapted  for  the  punishment  of  small 
transgressions.  ' 

The  Committee  of  Detail  in  the  Constitutional 
convention  first  reported  in  place  of  the  present 
provision,  which  denies  to  the  Presi-  Pardoning  pow- 

.  er  does  not  extend 

dent  the  power  to  pardon  in  cases  of  to  impeachment, 
impeachment,  a   provision    that    the    President's 
pardon  should  not  be  pleaded  in  bar  of  impeach- 
ment proceedings. 

"  This,"  says  Mr.  Curtis,  "  would  have  made  the 
power  precisely  like  that  of  the  King  of  England ; 
since,  by  the  English  law,  although  the  King's 
pardon  cannot  be  pleaded  in  bar  of  an  impeach- 
ment, he  may,  after  conviction,  pardon  the  offender. 
But  as  it  was  intended  in  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  to  limit  the  judgment  in  an  impeach- 
ment to  a  removal  from  office,  and  to  subsequent 
disqualification  for  office,  there  would  not  be  the 
same  reason  for  extending  to  it  the  executive  power 
of  pardon  that  there  is  in  England,  where  the 
judgment  is  not  so  limited."  a 

In  the  Constitutional  convention  there  was 
some  discussion  as  to  whether  impeachments 

1  Bryce :  American  Commonwealth,  vol.  i.,  p.  208. 

2  Curtia  :  Constitutional  History  of  the  United  States,  p.  579. 


152  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

should  be  tried  by  the  Supreme  Court  or  by  the 

Senate.     Mr.  Madison  and  Mr.  Pinckney  objected 

some    proposi-  to  the  Senate  as  rendering  the  Pres- 

tions    in   Convert- 

tion.  ident  too  dependent  on  the  Legis- 

lature. Gouverneur  Morris  and  others  thought  no 
other  tribunal  than  the  Senate  could  be  trusted, 
and  it  was  finally  so  agreed,  the  Chief  Justice 
being  designated  to  preside  on  the  impeachment 
of  the  President.  When  the  scheme  stood  for 
the  trial  of  impeachments  by  the  Supreme  Court 
it  became  necessary  to  provide  another  tribunal 
for  the  case  of  an  impeachment  of  one  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  Justices,  and  the  Senate  was  recom- 
mended. 

A  proposition  that  the  officer  impeached  should 
be  suspended  from  office  pending  the  trial  was 
wisely  rejected  by  the  convention,  and  the  officer 
now  continues  to  exercise  his  office  until  a  judg- 
ment of  conviction  is  entered.  The  other  rule 
would  have  put  it  in  the  power  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  to  suspend  the  President  from 
office  and  to  cast  the  office  temporarily  upon  an- 
other. This  would  have  fatally  weakened  the  Ex- 
ecutive and  offered  to  partisanship  a  dangerous 
temptation.  On  the  whole,  no  better  mode  of  try- 
ing impeachments  than  that  provided  by  the  Con- 
stitution has,  even  in  the  light  of  our  experience 
and  development,  been  suggested. 


THE   PKESIDENT  153 

The  process  of  impeachment  has  been  put  into 
exercise  seven  times.  In  1797  William  Blount,  a 
Senator  from  the  State  of  Tennessee,  Impeachment 
was  impeached  for  high  crimes  and 
misdemeanors.  The  charge  was  that  he  had  con- 
spired to  set  on  foot  within  theUnited  States  a  hos- 
tile expedition  against  the  possessions  of  Spain  in 
Florida,  to  excite  the  Creek  and  Cherokee  Indians 
to  hostilities  against  the  subjects  of  Spain,  and  to 
overturn  the  authority  and  influence  of  the  agents 
of  the  United  States  among  those  Indians.  Be- 
fore the  trial  of  the  impeachment  he  was  expelled 
from  the  Senate  by  a  resolution  of  that  body,  and 
when  arraigned  pleaded  that  he  was  no  longer  a 
Senator,  and  that  he  was  not,  at  the  time  of  the 
commission  of  the  offences,  a  civil  officer  of  the 
United  States.  The  plea  was  sustained  by  the 
Senate  and  the  accused  was  acquitted. 

In  1803  John  Pickering,  United  States  District 
Judge  for  New  Hampshire,  was  impeached  for  cer- 
tain malfeasances  in  office,  in  connection  with  which 
it  was  also  charged  that  he  had  been  drunk  upon 
the  bench,  and  was  guilty  of  offences  degrading 
to  his  character  as  a  Judge.  The  accused  did  not 
appear  and  make  any  defence,  but  his  son  pre- 
sented a  petition  alleging  the  insanity  of  his  father. 
The  accused  was  convicted  and  was  removed  from 
his  office. 


154  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OUES 

About  the  same  time  impeachment  proceedings 
were  begun  against  Samuel  Chase,  a  Justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court.  The  offence  charged  against 
him  was  misconduct  in  certain  trials.  He  was 
acquitted  by  a  majority  vote  of  the  Senate  upon 
some  of  the  articles  of  impeachment,  and  by  a 
minority  vote — but  more  than  one-third  of  the 
Senate — upon  the  other  articles. 

In  1830  James  H.  Peck,  Judge  of  the  United 
States  District  Court  for  the  District  of  Missouri, 
was  impeached  for  malfeasance  in  office,  especially 
in  relation  to  certain  proceedings  in  contempt 
against  a  member  of  the  bar.  He  was  acquitted 
by  a  vote  of  twenty-two  for  conviction  to  twenty- 
one  against. 

In  1862  Judge  Humphreys,  of  the  District  Court 
of  the  United  States  for  the  District  of  Tennessee, 
was  impeached.  He  had  accepted  and  discharged 
the  duties  of  a  similar  judicial  position  under  the 
Confederate  Government  without  resigning  his 
office  under  the  United  States.  He  was  charged 
with  inciting  rebellion,  with  organizing  armed 
rebellion  against  the  United  States,  etc.  The 
accused  did  not  appear,  and  was  convicted  and 
sentenced  to  be  removed  from  office  and  to  be 
disqualified  from  holding  office. 

The  impeachment  trial  of  Andrew  Johnson  is 
the  most  notable  in  the  history  of  the  exercise  of 


THE  PRESIDENT  155 

this  power,  but  it  is  not  possible  here  to  describe  at 
any  length  the  proceedings  in  the  case.  They  are 
reported  at  length  in  a  special  vol-  Andrew  Jota80n,B 
ume  of  the  "  Congressional  Record." 
Chief  Justice  Chase  presided  with  great  dignity 
and  impartiality.  The  managers  on  the  part  of  the 
House  were  John  A.  Bingham,  of  Ohio;  George 
S.  Boutwell,  of  Massachusetts ;  James  F.  Wilson, 
of  Iowa;  John  A.  Logan,  of  Illinois;  Thomas 
Williams,  of  Pennsylvania;  Benjamin  F.  Butler, 
of  Massachusetts,  and  Thaddeus  Stevens,  of  Penn- 
sylvania. The  counsel  for  the  President  as  origi- 
nally selected  were  Henry  Stanbery,  Benjamin  B. 
Curtis,  Jeremiah  S.  Black,  William  M.  Evarts  and 
Thomas  A.  B.  Nelson.  On  the  second  day  of  the 
trial  Judge  Black  withdrew  and  was  succeeded  by 
William  S.  Groesbeck.  The  "  Congressional  Rec- 
ord "  states : 

On  Monday,  the  3d  of  March  (1868),  articles  of  im- 
peachment were  agreed  upon  by  the  House  of  Represent- 
atives, and  on  the  5th  they  were  presented  to  the  Senate 
by  the  managers  on  the  part  of  the  House,  who  were 
accompanied  by  the  House,  the  grand  inquest  of  the 
nation,  as  a  committee  of  the  whole  on  the  state  of  the 
Union. 

There  were  eleven  articles  in  the  presentment. 
They  charged  the  attempted  removal  of  Mr.  Stanton 
as  Secretary  of  War,  and  the  appointment  of  Adju- 


156  THIS   COUNTRY    OF   OURS 

tant-General  Thomas  as  Acting  Secretary  of  War 
in  violation  of  the  Tenure  of  Office  Act ;  the  attempt 
to  influence  General  Emery  of  the  Army,  in  com- 
mand of  the  Department  of  Washington,  to  violate 
the  law,  and  to  receive  orders  from  the  President 
not  issued  through  the  General  of  the  Army,  with 
the  intent  to  prevent  the  execution  of  the  Tenure  of 
Office  Act.  They  further  charged  that  the  Presi- 
dent had,  in  public  speeches,  attempted  to  "  bring 
into  disgrace,  ridicule,  hatred,  contempt  and  re- 
proach the  Congress  of  the  United  States,"  and 
to  incite  the  people  to  disregard  the  laws;  that 
he  had  declared  publicly  that  the  Congress  "  was 
not  a  Congress  of  the  United  States  author- 
ized by  the  Constitution  to  exercise  legislative 
power  under  the  same."  These  charges  were  sup- 
ported by  numerous  extracts  from  the  public 
speeches  of  the  President,  made  during  that  fa- 
mous but  mortifying  tour  of  his  through  the 
country. 

Benjamin  F.  Butler,  one  of  the  managers  on  the 
part  of  the  House,  in  his  book,  says  of  his  own 
part  in  the  case : 

As  to  myself,  I  came  to  the  conclusion  to  try  the  case 
upon  the  same  rules  of  evidence,  and  in  the  same  man- 
ner, as  I  should  try  a  horse  case,  and  I  know  how  to  do 
that.  I  therefore  was  not  in  trepidation.  When  I  dis- 
cussed that  question  with  the  managers  they  seemed  to 


THE   PRESIDENT  157 

be  a  good  deal  cut  up.  They  said  :  ' '  This  is  the  greatest 
case  of  the  times,  and  it  is  to  be  conducted  in  the  highest 
possible  manner."  "Yes,"  I  said,  "  and  that  is  accord- 
ing to  law  ;  that  is  the  only  way  I  know  how  to  conduct 
a  case."  Finding  me  incorrigible,  they  left  me  to  my 
own  devices.1 

On  May  16th  the  vote  was  taken  in  the  Senate, 
nineteen  Senators  voting  "not  guilty,"  and  thirty- 
five  "guilty" — one  less  than  the  necessary  two- 
thirds.  Eleven  Republican  Senators,  four  of  whom 
had  supported  Mr.  Johnson's  administration,  voted 
for  acquittal.  The  other  seven  were  tremendously 
assailed  by  their  political  friends,  but  adhered 
firmly  to  their  convictions.  Mr.  Foster  says  that 
"  History  has  already  pronounced  her  verdict  that 
they  saved  the  country  from  a  precedent  big  with 
danger  and  vindicated  the  wisdom  of  those  who 
made  the  Senate  a  court  for  the  trial  of  im- 
peachments."2 

The  next  and  last  case  occurred  in  1876,  when 
William  W.  Belknap,  who  was  Secretary  of  War 
in  the  Cabinet  of  President  Grant,  was 

Belknap'e  case. 

impeached.     The  charge  against  him 
was  that  he  had  corruptly  received  money  from  a 
post  trader  who  had  been  appointed  by  him.     Mr. 
Belknap  resigned  before  he  was  impeached,  and  his 

1  Butler's  Book,  p.  929. 

8  Foster  :  Commentary  on  the  Constitution,  vol.  i. ,  p.  564. 


158  THIS   COUNTRY   OF  OURS 

counsel  interposed  a  plea  that  at  the  time  of  the  im- 
peachment Mr.  Belknap  was  not  an  officer  of  the 
United  States.  The  plea  was  overruled,  but  by  a 
majority  of  less  than  two-thirds  of  the  Senate.  The 
Senators  who  had  voted  to  sustain  the  plea,  upon 
the  ground  that  the  Senate  was  without  jurisdic- 
tion, by  reason  of  the  resignation,  subsequently 
voted  for  acquittal,  and,  being  more  than  one-third 
of  the  Senate,  the  proceedings  failed. 


CHAPTER  X 
THE   PRESIDENT  (CONTINUED) 

OFFICIAL  LIFE  AT  THE  EXECUTIVE  MANSION  —  A  HOME  AND  OFFICE 
COMBINED  —  HISTORIC  DESK  —  OFFICE  FORCE  —  THE  MAIL  — 
AUTOGRAPHS  —  BEGGING  LETTERS  —  BUSINESS  RECEPTIONS  — 
DESK  WORK—  OFFICE-SEEKERS—  SOCIAL  OBSERVANCES—  WASH- 
INGTON'S QUESTIONS  —  HOUSE  AND  GROUNDS  PUBLIC. 

THE  "  Executive  Mansion  "  is  the  official  desig- 
nation of  the  home  of  the  President  ;  the  universal 
popular  designation  is  the  "White  The  Executive 

Mansion  —  home 

House.       It  is  an  office  and  a  home  »n< 


combined  —  an  evil  combination.  There  is  no 
break  in  the  day  —  no  change  of  atmosphere.  The 
blacksmith,  when  the  allotted  hours  of  work  are 
over,  banks  his  fire,  lays  aside  his  leather  apron, 
washes  his  grimy  hands  and  goes  home.  And  he 
gets  a  taste  of  unsmoked  morning  air  before  he 
resumes  his  work.  There  is  only  a  door  —  one  that 
is  never  locked  —  between  the  President's  office 
and  what  are  not  very  accurately  called  his  private 
apartments.  There  should  be  an  Executive  Office 
building,  not  too  far  away,  but  wholly  distinct 
from  the  dwelling-house.  For  every  one  else  in 
the  public  service  there  is  an  unroofed  space  be- 
159 


160  THIS   COUNRTY    OF   OURS 

tweeii  the  bedroom  and  the  desk.  The  Cabinet 
room  intervenes  between  the  library  and  the  room 
usually  (but  not  always)  used  by  the  President  as 
President's  of-  an  °^GG-  Presidents  Grant,  Hayes, 

and  Garfield  used  the  Cabinet-room 
as  an  office.  President  Arthur  took  the  large  oval 
room  above  the  Blue-room,  which  had  before  been 
a  library  and  private  sitting-room,  for  his  office  ; 
and  during  his  first  term  Mr.  Cleveland  so  used  it. 
But  the  room  next  east  of  the  Cabinet-room  was 
used  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  generally  before  his 
time,  as  the  office,  and  it  is  now  so  used.  The 
Cabinet-room  is  used  as  a  waiting-room.  The 
President  tries  to  get  to  his  office  in  time  to  ex- 
amine his  mail  before  his  callers  begin  to  arrive, 
but  is  often  anticipated  by  Senators  and  Repre- 
sentatives who  have  early  committee  engagements 
at  the  Capitol. 

The  broad  flat  desk  at  which  he  seats  himself  is 

an  artistic  and  historic  piece  of  cab- 

Historicdesk  .     . 

met  work.     It  is  inscribed : 

Her  Majesty's  ship  "Resolute,"  forming  part  of  the 
expedition  sent  in  search  of  Sir  John  Franklin  in  1852, 
was  abandoned  in  latitude  74°  41'  north,  longitude  101° 
22'  west,  on  15th  May,  1854.  She  was  discovered  and 
extricated  in  September,  1855,  in  latitude  67°  north,  by 
Captain  Buddington,  of  the  United  States  whaler, 
"  George  Henry."  The  ship  was  purchased,  fitted  out, 


THE   PKESIDENT  161 

and  sent  to  England  as  a  gift  to  her  Majesty,  Queen  Vic- 
toria, by  the  President  and  people  of  the  United  States, 
as  a  token  of  good  will  and  friendship.  This  table  was 
made  from  her  timbers  when  she  was  broken  up,  and  is 
presented  by  the  Queen  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  to 
the  President  of  the  United  States  as  a  memorial  of  the 
courtesy  and  loving-kindness  which  dictated  the  offer  of 
the  gift  of  the  "Resolute." 

The  office  force  of  the  White  House  is  not 
large.  The  Private  Secretary  (now  Secretary  to 
the  President)  is  at  the  head  of  it. 

...  The  office  force. 

Mis  omce  is  an  important  one,  and 
discretion  is  the  talent  most  in  demand !  He  is 
not  a  deputy  President.  There  is  an  Assistant 
Secretary,  who  carries  and  delivers  the  messages  to 
Congress,  and  keeps  a  record  of  appointments  and 
of  bills  submitted  for  the  President's  approval. 
There  are  six  clerks,  two  of  whom  are  executive 
clerks.  One  of  these  is  stenographer  to  the  Presi- 
dent and  has  charge  of  the  mail.  The  other  is  a 
purchasing  and  disbursing  officer.  Of  the  other 
clerks,  one  acts  as  stenographer  to  the  Private 
Secretary,  one  is  a  telegraph  operator,  and  these, 
with  the  remaining  clerks,  assist  in  the  general 
office  work.  There  is  a  doorkeeper  for  the  Presi- 
dent, and  one  for  the  Private  Secretary.  These, 
with  four  messengers,  complete  the  office  force 
proper. 

11 


162  THIS   COUNTRY    OF   OURS 

The  mail  that  comes  daily  to  the  Executive 
Mansion  is  very  large ;  in  the  early  months  of  an 
administration  it  is  enormous,  as 
many  as  eight  hundred  letters  being 
sometimes  received  in  a  day.  But  few  of  these 
letters  reach  the  President's  desk.  The  mail  is 
sorted  by  a  trusted  and  confidential  clerk  ;  family 
and  personal  letters  are  sent  unopened  to  the  per- 
sons to  whom  they  are  addressed  ;  letters  relating 
to  appointments  are,  as  a  rule,  acknowledged  by 
one  of  the  clerks  and  referred  to  the  proper  De- 
partment ;  and  only  those  that  relate  to  the  more 
important  appointments  and  to  matters  of  public 
interest  are  sent  to  the  President's  desk.  No 
other  course  is  possible,  for,  if  he  dealt  personally 
with  all  his  correspondents,  the  President  could 
do  nothing  else.  As  it  is,  the  mail  that  comes  to 
his  desk  is  large.  The  information  has  been 
spread  very  widely  that  the  President  does  not 
read  many  letters,  and  the  devices  that  are  em- 
ployed to  make  sure  that  letters  will  be  seen 
-Personal"  ^v  n^m  are  vai>i°us  and  amusing. 

and  "Private."    But    the    Secretary    goon    \eains   that 

the  letters  marked  "  personal,"  or  "  private,"  are 
quite  as  likely  to  be  applications  for  office  or  re- 
quests for  autographs  as  anything  else.  Some- 
times a  formal  protest  against  the  Private  Secre- 
tary is  endorsed  on  the  envelope,  as,  "  This  is  for 


THE    PKESIDENT  163 

the  President,  not  for  the  one  who  reads  his  let- 
ters." A  correspondent  who  had  forwarded  many 
papers,  the  acknowledgment  of  all  of  which  had 
been  accompanied  by  the  assurance  that  the  papers 
had  been  referred  to  the  appropriate  department, 
rather  pathetically  wrote :  "  Your  letters  are  all 
worded  about  the  same." 

Very  many  of  the  letters  addressed  to  the  Presi- 
dent are  trivial,  not  a  few  of  them  impertinent, 
and  some  of  them  angry  and  threatening.  These, 
if  the  Private  Secretary  is  a  judicious  man,  the 
President  never  hears  of,  and  the  malicious  intent 
of  the  writer  is  thwarted.  The  re-  Autographs  — 

bed-quilts — lunch- 

quests  for  autographs  are  scarcely  cloths, 
numerable.  A  card,  with  an  engraving  of  the 
Executive  Mansion  upon  it,  is  provided  for  that 
use,  and  a  pile  of  these  cards  upon  his  desk,  and 
another  of  autograph  albums,  make  their  mute 
appeal  to  the  President  nearly  every-  morning. 
Patches  for  autograph  bed-quilts  and  lunch-cloths 
add  to  the  burden.  Begging  letters,  for  numbers, 
take  the  second  place  in  the  President's  mail. 
They  come  from  every  part  of  the  land,  and  relate 
to  every  possible  subject.  There  are  appeals  to 
aid  the  writer  to  get  an  education,  or  to  pay  off  a 
mortgage,  or  to  buy  a  piano  or  a  pony ;  and  no 
form  of  public  appeal  is  absent — to  aid  the  build- 
ing of  churches,  to  endow  schools,  to  build  monu- 


164  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

ments,  and  to  aid  every  other  good  purpose  for 
which  men  or  women  or  children  associate  them- 
selves.    On  one  day  the  requests  for 

Begging  letters.  . 

specific  sums  aggregated  nine  thou- 
sand dollars.  These  appeals  are  unavailing,  in  the 
nature  of  things,  and  self-respect  ought  to  restrain 
the  practice.  The  President  cannot  aid  every  good 
cause  or  every  needy  person.  He  cannot  know 
whether  the  person  appealing  to  him  is  worthy,  if 
he  appeals  in  his  own  behalf,  or  properly  accred- 
ited, if  he  appeals  for  a  cause. 

A  class  of  "  space-writers "  makes  an  especial 
mark  of  the  President.  He  is  invited  to  express 
himself  theoretically  or  to  give  his  experience  upon 
an  endless  variety  of  subjects.  What  laborious  in- 
trospection is  invoked  by  the  question :  "  What 
was  the  greatest  thought  that  ever  entered  your 
mind?" 

Many  people  greatly  enlarge  the  powers  of  the 
President,  and  invoke  his  interference  and  protec- 
tion in  all  their  troubles.  "  I  have  six  little  chil- 
dren and  they  want  to  throw  me  out  of  my  house. 
I  have  nowhere  to  go.  I  want  protection,"  was  the 
appeal  by  wire  of  a  North  Carolina  woman.  An- 
other begs  the  President  to  pass  a  law  "  prohibit- 
ing anybody  from  hiring  a  prodagal  (sic]  boy." 

How  a  letter  to  the  President  should  be  ad- 
dressed is  a  question  that  perplexes  many  an  in- 


THE   PRESIDENT  165 

telligent  person,  and  has  had  many  amusing  solu- 
tions. Sometimes  he  is  addressed  by  letter  writers 
as  plain  "  Mister,"  sometimes  as 

Proper  address. 

"His  Majesty,"  or  " His  Lordship," 
and  very  often  as  "  His  Excellency."  "  The  High 
Government  at  Washington  "  was  thought  to  be 
an  appropriate  address  by  one  writing  from  Aus- 
tria ;  and  a  letter  addressed  to  the  "  White  Office  " 
was  rightly  assigned  by  the  intelligent  mail  clerk 
to  the  White  House.  The  official  title  of  the  head 
of  the  Executive  Department  is  "  The  President." 
All  propositions  to  add  adorning  but  superfluous 
titles  were  rejected  in  Washington's  time.  The 
correct  letter  address  is,  therefore,  "To  the  Presi- 
dent," and  the  oral  address,  "  Mr.  President." 

The  President  does  not  carry  his  title  with  him 
when  he  retires  from  office,  as  the  judicial  and 
military  gentlemen  do.  There  may  ^  one  p^. 
be  many  Judges  and  Majors,  but  *ent -An  incident, 
there  cannot  be  two  Presidents.  A  gentleman 
who  had  been  President,  returning  from  a  hunting 
expedition  in  a  costume  embodying  no  hint  of  the 
dignified  position  he  had  held,  was  approached  by 
an  impulsive  fellow-traveller  with  the  question : 
"  Is  this  President ?  "  "  No,"  said  the  gentle- 
man addressed ;  "  I  am  Mr. ,  of  -  — ."  The 

countenance  of  the  questioner  fell  as  she  begged 
pardon  and  returned  to  her  seat.  But  the  rather 


166  THIS  COUNTRY   OF  OURS 

boisterous  laughter  of  some  young  folks,  who  had 
taken  in  the  situation,  slowly  revealed  it  to  her, 
and  she  came  forward  again  to  say :  "  Well,  I  want 
to  shake  hands  with  you  even  if  you  ain't  Presi- 
dent now." 

Letters  can  be  turned  over  to  clerks,  but  callers 

are  not  to  be  so  disposed  of.     Unless  the  President 

Business  recep-    is  very  early,  he  will  find  some  callers 

tions— only    five  *, 

minutes  wanted,  waiting  for  him  as  he  passes  through 
the  Cabinet  room  to  his  office.  The  rules,  which 
are  displayed  on  large  cards,  announce  that  the 
President  will  receive  persons  having  business  with 
him  between  certain  hours,  usually  from  9:30  or 
10  A.  M.  until  1  P.  M.,  except  on  Mondays ;  but  the 
hours  and  the  exception  are  very  little  regarded, 
and  it  is  a  rare  piece  of  good  fortune  during  the 
early  months  of  an  administration  if  the  President 
gets  one  wholly  uninterrupted  hour  at  his  desk 
each  day.  His  time  is  so  broken  into  bits  that  he 
is  often  driven  to  late  night  work,  or  to  set  up  a 
desk  in  his  bedroom,  when  preparing  a  message  or 
other  paper  requiring  unbroken  attention.  Thought- 
lessness is  the  root  of  all  this.  "  I  only  want  five 
minutes  "  ;  and  if  he  were  the  only  one  it  could  be 
spared;  but  his  double  is  at  his  heels,  and  the 
urgent  public  business  is  postponed  or  done  at 
night  with  a  jaded  mind.  It  may  be  said  that 
untimely  visitors  should  be  excluded,  and  so  they 


THE   PRESIDENT  167 

should ;  but  thoughtfulness  on  their  part  would  be 
a  cure  without  a  smart.  The  President's  messenger 
brings  in  the  cards  or  announces  orally  the  names 
of  the  visitors,  and  they  are  admitted  singly,  or  all 
are  ushered,  as  they  arrive,  into  the  President's 
office,  as  he  may  direct.  He  usually  receives  them 
standing  near  his  desk — especially  when  a  number 
are  present — and  in  the  order  of  their  official  sta- 
tion, if  they  are  public  officers.  Those  not  engaged 
with  the  President  stand  back,  and  the  conversa- 
tion with  each,  as  he  is  received,  is  conducted  in  a 
low  tone  that  secures  some  degree  of  privacy.  There 
are  many  Senators  and  Kepresentatives,  often  ac- 
companied by  friends  or  constituents,  either  singly 
or  in  delegations,  sometimes  simply  to  pay  their 
respects,  but  more  often  to  urge  some  appoint- 
ment. 

In  the  latter  case  the  President  listens,  and 
seems  to  the  applicant  to  be  painfully  reticent. 
He  concludes  the  brief  interview  by  The 
saying  :  "  Please  file  your  papers  in  offlce-6eeker<>- 
the  proper  department,  and  I  will  consider  the 
matter."  This  incident  is  repeated  over  and  over 
— perhaps  a  hundred  times  in  the  course  of  a 
morning.  The  business  has  not  been  much  ad- 
vanced, if  at  all.  The  appointment  may  not  come 
before  the  President  for  action  for  several  months, 
and  in  the  nature  of  things  he  can  recall  little,  if 


168  THIS   COUNTRY    OF   OURS 

anything,  of  what  was  said  so  long  before.  He  has 

been  told  that  Mr.  A ,  an  applicant  for  the 

post-office   at  -    — ,  is  a  dissipated,  disreputable 

man,  and  that  Mr.  B ,  who  wants  the  same 

place,  possesses  all  of  the  virtues,  and  talents  of 
the  highest  order ;  but  if  the  President  depended 
upon  his  memory  these  vices  and  virtues  might  be 
wrongly  assigned.  All  this  is  explained  over  and 
over  again  to  applicants  and  their  friends,  but  the 
feeling  that  something  is,  or  may  be,  gained  by  a 
personal  interview  prevails,  and  for  the  first  year 
and  a  half  of  an  administration  the  President 
spends  from  four  to  six  hours  of  each  day  talking 
about  things  he  will  not  have  to  act  upon  for 
months,  while  the  things  that  ought  to  be  done 
presently  are  hurtfully  postponed.  Generally,  in 
the  case  of  home  places,  the  application  is  for  a 
particular  office,  but  in  very  many  cases,  especially 
as  to  consular  places,  the  application  is  general — 
for  a  place  to  be  hunted  up  by  the  President  and 
fitted  to  the  applicant.  Such  cases  are  particularly 
trying. 

If  the  President  could  make  up  and  publish  an 
appointment  docket,  and  notify  all  persons  having 
anything  to  say  in  a  particular  case  to  "  draw 
near  "  on  a  fixed  day,  it  would  result  in  a  great 
saving  of  time  ail  around,  and  a  great  saving  of 
money  to  the  applicants,  who  could  remain  at  home 


THE   PRESIDENT  169 

until  summoned  to  appear.  No  papers  should  be 
received  after  the  submission  of  the  case,  and  mo- 
tions for  a  rehearing  and  for  a  new  trial  should  be 
barred. 

When  the  coming  of  the  lunch  hour  has  brought 
the  morning  reception  to  an  end,  and  the  Presi- 
dent is  again  at  his  desk,  one  of  the  Aftemoon8  ^ 
Cabinet  officers  appears  by  appoint-  Cabinet  °mcere- 
rnent,  accompanied  by  a  messenger  with  an  arm- 
ful or  a  basketful  of  papers — chiefly  made  up  of 
petitions  and  letters  relating  to  appointments. 
Each  case  has  been  briefed  and  jacketed,  and  one 
by  one  they  are  presented,  the  Secretary  adding 
such  information  as  he  has,  outside  the  papers. 
The  conclusions  reached  are  noted — to  appoint  a 
particular  person,  or  to  prosecute  a  further  inquiry. 
The  Postmaster-General  brings  a  large  clothes- 
basketful  of  papers,  and  an  adjournment  to  the 
long  Cabinet  table  is  necessary  in  order  to  display 
them.  He  takes  up  the  papers  relating  to  a  post- 
office  and  briefly  states  the  case.  If  the  case  is 
decided  he  fills  in  the  blank  on  the  jacket,  "  Ap- 
point   ,"  the  President  affixes  his  initials,  and 

the  package  is  thrown  back  into  the  basket.  A 
whole  afternoon  is  often  consumed  in  this  way. 

But  the  conferences  with  the  heads  of  depart- 
ments are  by  no  means  limited  to  the  matter  of 
appointments.  All  large  matters,  and  many  small 


170  THIS   COUNTRY   OP   OURS 

ones  where  controversies  have  arisen,  are  the  sub- 
jects of  consultation.  The  President  has  a  real 
connection  with  each  department,  and  is  fully  in- 
formed as  to  the  plans  of  the  Secretary.  It  is 
almost  always  the  Secretary  who  asks  for  the  con- 
sultation. If  the  matter  is  difficult,  he  wants 
counsel ;  if  the  decision  is  likely  to  evoke  opposi- 
tion, he  will  need  support. 

If  there  is  no  appointment  with  a  Cabinet  officer, 
or  with  some  other  official  who  has  asked  for  a 
Desk  work-bins  sPe°ial  interview,  the  President  takes 

and  commissions.    up    tbe    WQrk    upon    hig  fe^       Tnere 

may  be  a  hundred  commissions  waiting  for  his 
signature.  The  messenger  conies  in,  takes  the 
sheets  as  they  are  signed,  and  spreads  them  about 
on  the  desk  or  on  the  floor  to  dry ;  sometimes  the 
room  is  carpeted  with  them.  Next  a  pile  of  bills 
passed  by  Congress  and  submitted  for  his  approval 
appeals  to  him,  and  one  by  one  they  are  taken  up 
and  read.  Usually  the  reports  of  the  Committees 
of  the  House  and  Senate  that  reported  the  bills 
are  attached  to  them,  and  also  the  report  of  the 
head  of  the  department  to  which  the  proposed 
legislation  relates.  These  are  examined,  and,  if  no 
objection  is  found,  the  President  writes,  "  Ap- 
proved," with  the  date,  and  affixes  his  signature. 
Tf  he  thinks  the  bill  should  be  vetoed  it  is  laid 
aside — until  he  can  prepare  the  veto  message. 


THE   PRESIDENT  171 

But  the  desk  is  not  yet  cleared.  Here  are  from 
five  to  twenty  applications  for  pardon,  and  for  the 
remission  of  forfeited  recognizances.  Pardons— Remis- 

eious  —  Marshals' 

Some  of  the  cases  are  small  as  to  accounts, 
bulk,  and  small  as  to  the  penalties  from  which 
relief  is  sought.  If  a  bond  in  the  sum  of  fifty  dol- 
lars for  the  appearance  of  a  person  charged  with 
some  petty  offence  against  the  United  States  is  for- 
feited, only  the  President's  signature  can  relieve 
the  property  of  the  surety  from  the  lien.  Many 
of  these  cases  are  of  ancient  origin,  and  the  lien  is 
only  revealed  when  the  title-searcher  prepares  an 
abstract  as  the  basis  of  a  sale  or  a  loan.  These 
cases,  like  pardon  cases,  come  through  the  Depart- 
ment of  Justice,  accompanied  by  a  favorable  or  an 
unfavorable  recommendation  from  the  Attorney- 
General.  But  the  President  must  examine  the 
papers  sufficiently  to  have  at  least  a  general  idea 
of  the  case,  for  the  act  and  the  responsibility  are 
his.  But  there  are  many  cases  of  great  bulk,  in- 
volving long  terms  of  imprisonment,  and  not  a 
few  where  the  death  penalty  has  been  pronounced. 
These  involve  the  conscientious  examination  of 
hundreds  of  pages  of  evidence,  affidavits,  and  peti- 
tions. When  all  of  these  cases  have  been  decided 
and  the  decision  properly  endorsed  and  signed, 
the  President  has  yet  another  class  of  papers  from 
the  Department  of  Justice  to  be  disposed  of. 


172  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

These  are  the  claims  of  United  States  Marshals  for 
the  allowance  of  extraordinary  expenses  incurred  by 
them  —  in  pursuing  a  mail  robber  or  other  criminal, 
and  like  matters.  The  claim  may  be  for  no  more 
than  ten  dollars  —  they  are  usually  small  —  but  it 
cannot  be  paid  until  the  President  has  approved 
it.  The  court  has  approved  it  upon  a  presenta- 
tion of  the  vouchers,  and  the  Attorney-General 
has  endorsed  his  approval  ;  but  this  is  only  pre- 
liminary and  does  not  authorize  its  payment.  The 
examination  by  the  President  is  more  or  less  par- 
ticular, but  there  is  always  some  examination. 

The  Interior  Department  has  sent  to  the  desk 
some  papers  that  make  the  President  realize  that 

The  "Great       he  *s  no*   onty  ^n  Indian  parlance, 

Father." 


Indian,  to  whom  an  allotment  of  land  has  been 
made,  desires  to  sell  a  part  of  it,  or  to  exchange  it 
for  another  tract.  His  petition  to  the  local  court 
sets  out  his  case,  and  the  court  finds  that  it  would 
be  to  his  interest  to  make  the  sale  or  exchange, 
but  the  approval  of  the  "  Great  Father  "  must  be 
endorsed  upon  the  deed  before  it  can  take  effect. 
In  one  case  the  paper  that  found  its  sluggish  way 
through  the  Court,  the  Indian  Office,  and  the  office 
of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  was  the  license  of 
an  Indian  to  a  white  man  to  take  a  few  perches  of 
stone  from  the  land  of  the  former.  Again,  the 


THE   PRESIDENT  173 

"  Great  Father  "  may  be  called  upon  to  approve 
an  order  allowing  a  tribe  to  market  some  down 
timber  on  the  reservation,  or  to  consider  the  ad- 
visability of  allowing  certain  of  his  red  children 
to  travel  with  a  show. 

The  War  and  Navy  Departments  have  possibly 
each  contributed  a  court-martial  record — a  great 
manuscript  volume — from  the  pages 

,        !•-,,,         -r,        •-,       L    -  i  Courts-martial. 

ot  which  the  President  is  to  learn 
whether  the  charges  have  been  satisfactorily 
proved,  and  whether  there  are  any  extenuating  cir- 
cumstances that  will  justify  him  in  saving  the  cul- 
prit from  the  sentence  of  dismissal  from  the  ser- 
vice which  has  been  pronounced  upon  him. 

The  day  would  not  be  a  typical  one  without  a 
call  from  one  or  more  newspaper  men.  For  rou- 
tine business  items,  and  for  social 

Newspapermen. 

news,  the  reporters  deal  with  the 
Private  Secretary,  but  when  there  are  rumors  of 
important  public  transactions — and  such  rumors 
are  perennial — some  of  the  more  prominent  of  the 
newspaper  men  expect  to  have  a  few  moments 
with  the  President.  With  some  of  these — gentle- 
men who  have  become  known  to  him  as  men  who 
have  not  placed  their  personal  honor  in  the  keep- 
ing of  any  newspaper  proprietor  or  managing  edi- 
tor, but  hold  it  in  estimation  and  in  their  own  cus- 
tody— the  President  sometimes  talks  with  a  good 


174  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

deal  of  freedom.  Of  course,  confidential  things 
are  not  disclosed ;  he  does  not  give  an  interview, 
and  is  not  quoted  ;  but  erroneous  impressions  of 
what  has  been  done  or  is  in  contemplation  are 
often  corrected.  There  are  many  men  of  fine 
ability  and  of  the  highest  personal  character 
among  the  newspaper  writers  at  Washington. 

The   President's  popular  receptions  begin  the 

next  day  after  his  inauguration,  and  are  continued 

Public  re cep-  for  a  good  many  days  without  much 

tions— handshak-  J 

ing-  regard  to   hours.     When   the   great 

East  Boom  fills  up  he  goes  down  and  takes  his 
station  near  the  door  of  exit.  The  head  usher  in- 
troduces some  who  are  known  or  who  make  their 
names  known  to  him,  but  generally  the  visitors 
make  known  their  own  names  to  the  President,  or 
pass  with  a  hand-shake  without  any  introduction — 
often  at  the  rate  of  forty  or  fifty  to  the  minute. 
In  the  first  three  weeks  of  an  administration  the 
President  shakes  hands  with  from  forty  to  sixty 
thousand  persons.  The  physical  drain  of  this  is 
very  great,  and  if  the  President  is  not  an  instruct- 
ed hand-shaker  a  lame  arm  and  a  swollen  hand 
soon  result.  This  may  be  largely,  or  entirely, 
avoided  by  using  President  Hayes's  method — take 
the  hand  extended  to  you  and  grip  it  before  your 
hand  is  gripped.  It  is  the  passive  hand  that  gets 
hurt. 


THE   PRESIDENT  175 

When  the  inaugural  visitors  have  disappeared 
these  popular  East  Room  receptions  are  brought 
into  order  and  occur  usually  three  times  a  week, 
at  one  o'clock.  It  has  been  suggested  that  a  bow 
should  be  substituted  for  the  hand -shake ;  but 
it  would  be  quite  as  admissible  to  suggest  a  re- 
vision of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  The 
interest  which  multitudes  attach  to  a  hand-shake 
with  the  President  is  so  great  that  people  will  en- 
dure the  greatest  discomfort  and  not  a  little  peril 
to  life  or  limb  to  attain  it.  These  are  not  the 
office-seekers,  but  the  unselfish,  honest-hearted,  pa- 
triotic people  whose  "  God  bless  you  "is  a  prayer 
and  a  benediction.  They  come  to  Washington  for 
the  inauguration,  and  later  with  visiting  excur- 
sions, but  they  are  mostly  to  be  found  near  their 
own  homes.  They  come  out  to  meet  the  Presi- 
dent when  he  takes  a  journey,  and  his  contact 
with  them,  and  their  affectionate  interest  in  him, 
revive  his  courage  and  elevate  his  purposes.  Mr. 
Lincoln  is  said  to  have  called  these  popular  recep- 
tions "his  public  opinion  baths." 

How  the  President  should  conduct  himself  in 
social  matters  was  a  question  that  even  the  press- 
ing and  important  work  of  organizing  social  observ- 
ances —  Washing- 
the  Government  could  not  exclude  ton's  questions. 

from  the  early  consideration  of  Washington.     Mc- 
Master  says :  "  While  the  House  was  busy  debat- 


176  THIS   COUNTRY    OF   OURS 

ing  by  what  name  the  President  should  be  called, 
Washington  was  troubled  to  know  in  what  man- 
ner he  should  behave."  To  solve  his  difficulties 
he  framed  a  set  of  questions  and  submitted  them 
to  Hamilton  and  Adams.  "  Should  he  keep  open 
house  after  the  manner  of  the  Presidents  of  Con- 
gress ;  or  would  it  be  enough  to  give  a  feast  on 
such  great  days  as  the  Fourth  of  July,  the  thirtieth 
of  November,  and  the  fourth  of  March  ?  Would 
one  day  in  the  week  be  sufficient  to  receive  visits 
of  compliment  ?  What  would  be  said  if  he  were 
sometimes  to  be  seen  at  quiet  tea-parties  ?  When 
Congress  adjourned,  should  he  make  a  tour  ?  " 

Mr.  Adams  thought  that  two  receptions  each 
week  should  be  held  ;  that  persons  desiring  to  see 
the  President  should  apply  through  the  Secretary 
of  State ;  that  the  nature  of  the  business  should  be 
stated  to  a  "  gentleman  in  waiting,"  who  should 
decide  whether  the  visitor  should  be  received  ; 
that  the  time  for  such  visits  should  be  limited  to 
one  hour,  or  two  at  the  most ;  that  his  private  life 
should  be  very  much  at  his  own  discretion,  but 
that  in  his  official  character  "  he  should  have  no 
intercourse  with  society  but  upon  public  business 
or  at  his  levees."  Hamilton  thought  there  should 
be  one  reception  each  week,  at  which  the  Presi- 
dent should  remain  a  half  hour ;  that  he  should 
accept  no  invitations,  and  give  formal  entertain- 


THE   PRESIDENT  177 

ments  not  more  than  four  times  a  year ;  that  the 
heads  of  Departments,  and  some  descriptions  of 
foreign  Ministers  and  Members  of  the  Senate 
should  have  access  to  the  President  on  public 
business.  This  latter  for  the  reasons  that  in 
Europe  peers  of  the  realm  had  access  to  the  king, 
and  that  it  "  will  be  satisfactory  to  the  people  to 
know  that  there  is  some  body  of  men  in  the  State 
who  have  a  right  of  continual  communication  with 
the  President.  It  will  be  considered  a  safeguard 
against  secret  combinations  to  deceive  him." 

The  grounds  of  the  Executive  Mansion  are  now 
practically  a  public  park ;  for,  though  enclosed  by 
high  iron  fences,  the  gates  stand  The  g^^ 
open,  save  that  the  gates  to  the 
grounds  south  of  the  house  are  closed  and  locked 
at  night.  The  driveway  in  front  is  a  thoroughfare, 
and  the  walks  are  used  as  freely  as  the  sidewalks 
of  the  city.  Until  screens  were  placed  in  the  win- 
dows of  the  private  dining-room  it  was  not  an 
unusual  incident  for  a  carriage  to  stop  in  front  of 
them  while  the  occupants  took  a  gratified  view  of 
the  President  and  his  family  at  their  breakfast  or 
lunch.  Some  of  the  department  clerks  once  re- 
monstrated against  the  closing  of  the  gates  to  the 
grounds  south  of  the  house  because  the  walk 
around  the  ellipse  was  a  little  longer.  There  is 
not  a  square  foot  of  ground,  not  a  bench  nor  a 
12 


178  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

shade  tree,  that  the  President  or  his  family  can  use 
in  privacy. 

The  Executive  Mansion  is  open  to  visitors  from 

10  A.M.  to  2  P.M. — the  large  East  Room  or  parlor 

Most  of  the  to  every  well-behaved  person  without 

rooms  p  u  b  1  i  c —  .  t 

Dickens's  visit.  any  card  or  introduction.  The  other 
three  parlors,  called  the  Green,  Blue,  and  Bed 
Parlors,  and  the  conservatories,  are  shown  to 
those  who  bring  a  card  from  a  Senator  or  Member, 
or  are  otherwise  introduced.  The  private  dining- 
room  is  the  only  room  on  the  first  floor  of  which 
the  President's  family  has  an  exclusive  use. 
Charles  Dickens,  in  his  "  American  Notes,"  gives 
an  interesting  but  exaggerated  account  of  the  free- 
dom of  the  Executive  Mansion  in  1842.  He  says : 

We  entered  a  large  hall,  and  having  twice  or  thrice 
rung  a  bell  which  nobody  answered,  walked  without 
further  ceremony  through  the  rooms  on  the  ground 
floor,  as  divers  other  gentlemen  (mostly  with  their  hats 
on  and  their  hands  in  their  pockets)  were  doing  very 
leisurely.  Some  of  these  had  ladies  with  them,  to  whom 
they  were  showing  the  premises;  others  were  lounging 
on  the  chairs  and  sofas  ;  others,  in  a  perfect  state  of  ex- 
haustion from  listlessness,  were  yawning  drearily.  The 
greater  portion  of  this  assemblage  were  rather  asserting 
their  supremacy  than  doing  anything  else,  as  they  had 
no  particular  business  there,  that  anybody  knew  of.  A 
few  were  closely  eying  the  movables,  as  if  to  make  quite 
sure  that  the  President  (who  was  far  from  popular)  had 


THE   PEESIDENT  179 

not  made  away  with  any  of  the  furniture,  or  sold  the 
fixtures  for  his  private  benefit. 

This  is  only  an  outline  of  a  business  day  and  its 
surroundings,  but  it  will  serve,  perhaps,  to  show 
that  the  life  of  the  President  is  a  very  busy  one. 
What  contrariety  and  what  monotony !  One  sig- 
nature involves  the  peace  of  the  na-  Monotony_a 
tion,  another  its  financial  policy,  an- 
other the  life  of  a  man,  and  the  next  the  payment 
of  ten  dollars  from  the  National  Treasury.  What 
monotony  in  the  appeals  for  office !  During  the 
war  an  old  contraband,  who  found  employment  in 
the  camp  of  one  of  our  regiments,  improvised  a 
banjo  from  the  rim  of  a  cheese-box  and  an  old 
parchment.  The  banjo  had  only  one  string,  and 
his  song  only  four  words,  but  the  picking  and  the 
song  had  the  longevity  if  not  the  melody  of  the 
brook.  Hired  by  some  mischievous  fellows,  the 
musician  would  seat  himself  near  the  Colonel's 
tent  and  begin  a  serenade  more  trying  to  the 
nerves,  more  hostile  to  sleep,  than  bursting  shells. 
The  President  cannot  call  the  officer  of  the  guard. 

The  applicants  for  office  are  generally  respect- 
able and  worthy  men,  and  many  of  them  are  the 
personal  friends  of  the  President.  They  are  en- 
titled to  a  respectful  and  kindly  hearing,  but  at  the 
end  of  one  hundred  days  of  this  work  the  Presi- 
dent should  not  be  judged  too  harshly  if  he  shows 


180  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

a  little  wear,  a  little  loss  of  effusiveness,  and  even 
a  hunted  expression  in  his  eyes.  It  is  said  that 
when  a  friend  spoke  to  Mr.  Lincoln  of  the  wear 
and  weariness  of  so  much  hand-shaking  he  replied 
that  "  the  tug  at  the  hand  was  much  easier  to  bear 
than  that  upon  his  heartstrings  for  all  manner  of 
favors  beyond  his  power  to  grant;"  and  at  an- 
other time  he  said  that  "it  sometimes  seemed  as  if 
every  visitor  darted  at  him,  and,  with  thumb  and 
finger,  carried  off  a  portion  of  his  vitality." 

Few  Presidents  retain  the  capacity  to  catch  the 
present,  but  well-covered,  humor  of  such  inter- 
course. A  fresher  mind  would  at  least  note  the 
transformations  from  tall  to  short,  and  from  thick 
to  thin,  of  the  man  who  first  named  the  President 
for  his  high  office. 


CHAPTEE  XI 
THE  STATE  DEPARTMENT 

EIGHT  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENTS — THE  CABINET  TABLE — ORIGIN 
OF  THE  OFFICE — UNDER  THE  CONFEDERATION — UNDER  THE 
CONSTITUTION— OFFICE  FORCE  AND  METHODS— FOREIGN  COR- 
RESPONDENCE— CONSULTATIONS  WITH  THE  PRESIDENT — PRES- 
ENTATION OF  MINISTERS— THE  CONSULAR  SERVICE — SHOULD 
LEAVE  POLITICS  AT  HOME. 

THE  executive  and   administrative  business   of 
the  Government  is  transacted  through  eight  exec- 
utive   departments.        The     heads    of          Executive  de- 
partments —  the 

these  departments  constitute  the  Cab-  cabinet  table, 
inet,  and  they  take  rank  at  the  Cabinet  table  in 
the  following  order  :  On  the  right  of  the  President 
is  the  Secretary  of  State  ;  on  his  left  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury ;  next  to  the  Secretary  of  State  is 
the  Secretary  of  War,  and  opposite  to  him  the 
Attorney-General.  Next  to  the  Secretary  of  War 
is  the  Postmaster-General,  and  opposite  to  him 
the  Secretary  of  the  Navy.  Until  the  creation  of 
the  Department  of  Agriculture  the  Secretary  of 
the  Interior  had  the  foot  of  the  table  to  himself  ; 
now  he  shares  it  with  the  head  of  the  new  depart- 
ment, though  the  breadth  of  the  table  is  hardly 
sufficient  to  receive  two  seats.  The  "  cabinet- 

181 


182  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

maker  "  who  designed  the  table  did  not  allow  for 
the  growth  of  the  official  family.  Already  a  far- 
ther addition  is  being  urged — a  Secretary  of  Com- 
merce and  Manufactures  —  and  if  he  comes  into 
being  a  new  table  must  be  provided.  Perhaps  an 
extension-table  may  be  the  thing. 

The  Secretary  of  State  is  popularly  called  the 
head  of  the  Cabinet ;  and  in  affairs  of  ceremony 

The  head  of  the  an(^  ^  ^e  order  of  succession  to  the 
cabinet.  presidency — in  the  event  of  the  death 
of  the  President  and  Yice-President — is  such.  He 
is  often  the  ablest  and  most  experienced  statesman 
in  the  Cabinet,  and  this  personal  element,  if  pres- 
ent, gives  him  a  natural  pre-eminence  among  his 
associated  advisers  at  the  Cabinet  table.  But  in 
no  other  sense  is  he  a  head  as  to  any  department 
save  his  own.  He  does  not  select  his  associates, 
may  not  even  be  consulted  as  to  their  selection, 
nor  can  he  direct  anything  in  their  departments. 

The  Secretary  of  State  has  been  often  selected 
from  the  list  of  those  who  were  competitors  of  the 

secretary  of  state  President  for  the  presidential  nom- 

—  Selection  —  Mr.    .         . 

seward.  mation.     In  the  case  of  Mr.  Lincoln, 

whose  great  powers  were  little  understood  by  the 
country  when  he  came  to  the  presidency,  the 
choice  of  his  chief  competitor,  Mr.  Seward,  for 
Secretary  of  State  was  a  very  wise  and  a  very 
brave  act.  The  choice  gave  confidence  to  those 


THE   STATE   DEPAKTMENT  183 

anxious  patriots — perhaps  a  majority  of  the  loyal 
people,  certainly  so  in  the  Eastern  States — who 
had  yet  to  learn  that  this  plain  man  from  the 
West  was  unmatched  in  wisdom,  courage,  and  in- 
tellectual force.  It  was  a  brave  act,  because  Mr. 
Lincoln  could  not  fail  to  know  that  for  a  time  Mr. 
Seward  would  overshadow  him  in  the  popular  es- 
timation ;  and  a  wise  one  because  Mr.  Seward  was 
in  the  highest  degree  qualified  for  the  great  and 
delicate  duties  of  the  office.  A  man  who  is  en- 
dowed for  the  presidency  will  know  how  to  be 
President,  in  fact  as  well  as  in  name,  without  any 
fussy  self-assertion. 

The  American  Colonies,  when  serious  differences 
with  the  mother  country  developed,  found  it  nec- 
essary to  have  representatives  in  London,  to  pre- 
sent and  support  their  petitions  for  the  redress 
of  grievances,  to  observe  and  oppose  threatened 
parliamentary  action,  and  to  keep  the  Colonial 
assemblies  advised  as  to  all  happenings  that 
affected  the  interests  of  the  Colonies.  These 
"agents,"  as  they  were  called,  were  The  colonial 
primarily  charged  with  the  commer- 
cial interests  of  the  Colonies.  It  became  a  sort 

0 

of  consolidated  diplomatic  and  consular  service. 
Franklin  served  several  of  the  Colonies  in  this 
capacity.  The  First  Congress,  in  1774,  made  use 
of  these  Colonial  agents  in  the  presentation  of  an 


184  THIS   COUNTKY   OF   OUES 

address  to  the  King.     In  1775  Congress  constituted 
from  its  members  a  committee  to  conduct  the  for- 


Affairs  eign  correspondence,  called  the  "Se- 

uiider  the  Confed- 

eration. cret  Committee  of  Correspondence." 

A  little  later  a  "Committee  of  Foreign  Affairs" 
was  organized.  All  foreign  correspondence  was 
conducted  through  these  and  other  committees,  or 
by  the  direct  action  of  Congress.  The  inadequacy 
and  inefficiency  of  this  method  —  if  that  can  be 
called  a  method  which  is  certain  and  methodical 
in  nothing  —  became  so  apparent  that  in  January, 
1781,  Congress  inaugurated  measures  for  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  Department  of  Foreign  Affairs, 
and  in  the  following  August  Kobert  R.  Living- 
ston, of  New  York,  was  chosen  as  the  first  "  Sec- 
retary for  Foreign  Affairs."  It  must  be  recalled 
that  the  Congress  then  exercised  all  executive 
powers,  and  so  the  rules  of  the  new  office  required 
the  Secretary  to  lay  all  matters  before  Congress, 
and  to  "  transmit  such  communications  as  Congress 
shall  direct."  He  was  permitted  to  attend  Con- 
gress "that  he  may  be  better  informed  of  the 
affairs  of  the  United  States  and  have  an  opportu- 
nity of  explaining  his  reports."  Mr.  ,  Livingston 
took  office  September  23,  1781.  After  a  brief 
exercise  of  the  office  he  submitted  to  Congress 
some  suggestions  for  the  better  conduct  of  the 
business,  and  in  February,  1782,  Congress  adopted 


THE   STATE   DEPARTMENT  185 

resolutions  providing,  among  other  things,  that 
the  official  designation  of  the  Secretary  should 
be  "  Secretary  of  the  United  States  of  America  for 
the  Department  of  Foreign  Affairs  ;  "  that  the 
letters  of  the  Secretary  to  the  Ministers  of  the 
United  States  and  to  the  Ministers  of  foreign 
powers,  relating  to  treaties  or  other  great  national 
subjects,  should  be  submitted  to  and  receive  the 
approbation  of  Congress  before  they  were  sent  ; 
that  plans  of  treaties,  instructions  to  our  repre- 
sentatives, and  other  like  papers,  the  substance  of 
which  had  been  approved  by  Congress,  should, 
after  being  reduced  to  form,  be  again  submitted  to 
the  opinion  of  Congress.  The  office  was  not  well 
designated.  The  Secretary  was  rather  the  "  Sec- 
retary of  Congress  "  than  the  "  Secretary  of  the 
United  States  of  America;"  but  the  substitution 
of  a  Secretary  for  the  committees  that  before  had 
our  foreign  affairs  in  charge  was  a  step  in  the 
direction  of  the  establishment  of  an  Executive  De- 
partment of  the  Government. 

In  June,  1783,  Mr.  Livingston  resigned  to  ac- 
cept the  office  of  Chancellor  of  the  State  of  New 
York.  We  do  not  wonder  that  with 


i  •          i  r.r\  11-1    —  Inadequate   sal- 

a   salary  of  only   $4,000  he   should  ary. 
have   said  he   was   compelled  to  draw  upon  his 
private   fortune  to  support  the  office.     That  has 
been  the  fate  of  all,  or  practically  all,  of  his  sue- 


186  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OUKS 

cessors ;  for,  while  the  salary  of  a  cabinet  officer  lias 
been  for  many  years  just  twice  that  received  by  Mr. 
Livingston,  the  expenditures  necessary  to  maintain 
the  social  position  which  custom  has  assigned  to  the 
office  are  greatly  more  than  the  salary.  A  Secretary 
of  State  who  maintains  an  establishment  and  en- 
tertains the  foreign  Ministers  and  the  general  pub- 
lic with  the  generous  hospitality  now  expected  of 
him,  will  owe  much  gratitude  to  his  major-domo  if, 
at  the  end  of  a  four-years'  term,  he  has  not  con- 
tributed from  his  private  fortune  to  the  support  of 
his  office  a  sum  much  greater  than  the  salary  he  has 
received.  This  is  an  evil,  for  it  may  happen  that 
the  man  best  fitted  for  the  office  may  refuse  it — or 
leave  it  as  Livingston  did — rather  than  sacrifice  a 
small  private  fortune  to  social  demands.  Dinners 
were,  in  Livingston's  time,  as  now,  diplomatic 
agencies,  as  well  as  imperative  social  events. 

John  Jay  was  Livingston's  successor  in  office, 
and  entered  upon  his  duties  December  21,  1784. 
He  continued  in  office — though  never  reappointed 
by  Washington — for  some  time  after  the  adoption 
of  the  Constitution,  and  though  commissioned  as 
Chief -Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  September  26, 
1789,  discharged  his  duties  in  the  State  Department 
until  February,  1790,  when  Thomas  Jefferson,  who 
had  been  appointed  Secretary  of  State  while  in 
Europe,  returned  and  took  the  office. 


THE   STATE  DEPARTMENT  187 

The  first  act  under  the  Constitution  establishing 
the  department  was  approved  July  27,  1789.  It 
was  called  "The  Department  of  For-  The  department 

«•  •  •  n*  under  the  Consti- 

eign  Affairs,  and  its  principal  officer  tution. 
"The  Secretary  for  the  Department  of  Foreign 
Affairs."  On  September  15th  following  another 
act  was  passed  changing  the  designation  of  the  de- 
partment to  "The  Department  of  State,"  and  that 
of  its  principal  officer  to  "  The  Secretary  of  State." 
It  seems  that  the  dropping  of  the  word  "  foreign  " 
from  the  designation  of  the  department  was  sig- 
nificant of  a  purpose  to  charge  the  Secretary  with 
some  domestic  duties  and  powers.  For  we  find 
that  legislation  foUowed  very  soon  Manydome8tic 
providing  for  the  filing  of  applica- 
tions for  patents  in  the  State  Department,  and  the 
keeping  of  the  patent  records  therein.  The  de- 
partment was  also  made  the  repository  for  copy- 
righted books,  had  the  supervision  of  the  census 
and  of  the  publication  of  the  census  reports,  and  in 
a  measure  the  supervision  of  the  Territories.  All 
of  these  domestic  functions  were,  in  1849,  trans- 
ferred to  the  Interior  Department.  The  matter  of 
copyrights,  at  a  later  period,  was  transferred  from 
the  Interior  Department  to  the  Librarian  of  Con- 
gress. 

The  office  force  of  the  Secretary  of  State  consists 
of  three  assistant  secretaries,  one  chief  clerk,  six 


188  THIS   COUNTRY    OF   OURS 

chiefs  of  bureaus,  one  translator,  one  private  sec- 
retary to  the  Secretary,  fifty-seven  clerks  of  the 
various  classes,  three  despatch  agents 

The  office  force.  *  °T 

— one  at  London,  one  at  New  xork, 
and  one  at  San  Francisco — and  four  messengers. 
Forty-five  laborers,  watchmen,  firemen,  elevator 
men,  and  charwomen,  in  addition,  make  a  total 
office  force  of  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-two  ; 
the  aggregate  of  their  annual  salaries  being  (1896) 
$144,980.  A  solicitor  is  assigned  to  the  depart- 
ment, as  its  law  officer,  from  the  Department  of 
Justice. 

A  bureau  is,  in  American  usage,  a  subordinate 

department,  to  which   particular  matters  are  as- 

The  bureaus—  signed  with  a  view  to  a  prompt  and 

methods  of   bnsi-  .    . 

ness.  orderly  administration.     The   names 

of  the  bureaus  in  the  State  Department  will  suffi- 
ciently show,  in  a  general  way,  how  the  work  of 
the  department  is  conducted.  They  are  the  Bureau 
of  Indexes  and  Archives,  the  Diplomatic  Bureau, 
the  Consular  Bureau,  the  Bureau  of  Eolls  and  Li- 
brary, the  Bureau  of  Statistics,  and  the  Bureau  of 
Accounts.  When  it  will  farther  facilitate  the  work 
divisions  are  organized,  over  each  of  which  there 
is  a  division  chief.  Thus  in  the  Diplomatic  Bu- 
reau, to  Division  A  is  assigned  the  correspondence 
with  specified  nations ;  to  Division  B  that  with 
certain  others,  and  so  on.  This  correspondence 


THE   STATE  DEPARTMENT  189 

goes  first  to  the  Bureau  of  Indexes  and  Archives, 
where  it  is  opened  and  an  index  of  it  made ;  then 
to  the  chief  clerk,  who  sends  it  either  to  the  Sec- 
retary or  to  one  of  the  assistant  secretaries,  or  di- 
rectly to  the  Diplomatic  Bureau,  as  the  nature  of  it 
requires.  The  Diplomatic  Bureau  either  origi- 
nates the  necessary  answers  or  prepares  them  under 
instructions.  These  answers  are  sent  to  the  Sec- 
retary, and,  if  approved  by  him,  are  signed  and 
sent  to  the  Bureau  of  Indexes  and  Archives  to  be 
indexed,  and  thence  again  to  the  Diplomatic  Bu- 
reau to  be  mailed.  This  is  what  is  called  "red 
tape ;  "  it  is,  in  fact,  necessary  method,  for  it  is 
essential  that  the  action  of  the  department  shall 
be  recorded,  and  that  an  index  shall  furnish  a  ready 
reference  to  such  action.  Perhaps  this  sample  of 
routine  is  enough — more  might  be  tiresome. 

Important  despatches,  relating  to  international 
differences  or  declaring  a  national  policy,  are  pre- 
pared by  the  Secretary,  are  some- 

xr  •>  •> '  Consultations 

times  the  subject  of  a  Cabinet  dis-  ^effSSc- 
cussion,  and  are  always  the  subject  tlce' 
of  a  conference  with  the  President.  That  this  was 
so  from  the  beginning  appears  from  such  notes  as 
these  addressed  by  Mr.  Jefferson  (Secretary  of 
State)  to  "Washington  : 

Mr.  Jefferson  has  the  honour  of  enclosing  for  the  pe- 
rusal of  the  President,  rough  drafts  of  the  letters  he  sup- 


190  THIS   COUNTEY   OF   OUES 

poses  it  proper  to  send  to  the  court  of  France  on  the 
present  occasion.  He  will  have  that  of  waiting  on  him 
in  person  immediately  to  make  any  changes  in  them  the 
President  will  be  so  good  as  to  direct,  and  to  communi- 
cate to  him  two  letters  just  received  from  Mr.  Short 
(chargd  d'affaires  to  France). 

And,  again  : 

He  sends  some  letters  for  the  President's  perusal,  pray- 
ing him  to  alter  freely  anything  in  them  which  he  thinks 
may  need  it. 

It  may  happen  that  the  President  will  himself 

prepare  a  draft  of  the  proposed  despatch,  and  that 

President  some-  after  a  consultation  this  may  be  ac- 

times    drafts    de- 

spatch.  cepted  by  the  Secretary ;  or  the  de- 

spatch sent  may  be  a  modification  of  the  draft  pro- 
posed by  one  or  the  other.  The  note  is  always 
signed  by  the  Secretary,  and  no  record  discloses 
its  actual  composer.  So,  some  writings  signed  by 
the  President,  and  ceremonious  speeches  read  by 
him,  are  not  the  product  of  his  pen.  Such  are 
not  infrequently,  as  has  been  said,  the  formal  re- 
sponses made  by  the  President  on  the  presentation 
of  foreign  Ministers.  The  State  Department,  in 
Addresses  to  anticipation  of  the  presentation,  hav- 

T?a£k*jdi"n"i    ™%  a  COP^  °f  tn6  Minister's  proposed 

)ns'  address,  frames  what,  in  the  opinion 
of  the  Secretary  or  of  one  of  the  assistant  secre- 
taries, would  be  a  suitable  response,  and  the  draft, 


THE   STATE   DEPARTMENT  191 

or  a  modification  of  it,  is  often  used  by  the  Presi- 
dent. When  the  President  wishes  to  say  some- 
thing that  is  not  formal  he  rejects  this  draft  and 
writes  his  own  address.  So,  too,  it  is  the  practice 
of  the  State  Department  to  send  to  the  President 
drafts  of  his  Thanksgiving  proclamations.  My 
memory  is  that  two  of  the  four  Thanksgiving  proc- 
lamations issued  by  me  were  written  in  the  State 
Department  and  only  slightly  modified  by  me,  and 
that  the  other  two  were  written  wholly  by  me. 

So,  also,  the  congratulatory  letters  signed  by  the 
President,  in  response  to  the  official  announce- 
ment of  the  birth  of  some  prince  or  Royal  infants— 

congratulatory  let- 
prmceSS  to  one  of  the  royal  families,  ters. 

is  a  State  Department  composition.  Whenever  a 
prince  or  princess  is  born  the  head  of  the  foreign 
office  at  once  notifies  all  other  governments  of  the 
happy  event.  All  this  is  natural  as  between  mon- 
archs ;  for  it  is  important  to  have  the  royalty  of 
the  babe  officially  certified,  and  the  list  is  useful 
when  a  prince  or  princess  is  in  search  of  a  wife  or 
husband.  But  it  seems  almost  incongruous  to 
notify  a  Republican  Government  like  ours  of  such 
an  event.  The  form  in  use  for  an  answer  to  such 
communications  was  possibly  prepared  by  Jeffer- 
son. It  assures  the  happy  parents  of  the  great  joy 
felt  by  the  President  and  by  the  people  of  the 
United  States  over  the  event.  The  language  in 


192  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

use  was  so  tropical  that  when  such  a  congratula- 
tory letter  was  presented  for  his  signature  one  of 
our  Presidents  felt  compelled  to  use  the  blue  pen- 
cil with  vigor.  Perhaps  if  we  were  to  notify  "  our 
great  and  good  friends,"  the  kings  and  queens  of 
the  earth,  of  the  birth  of  every  "  heir  possible  "  to 
the  presidency,  they  would  break  off  the  corre- 
spondence ! 

The  ceremonies  observed  in  receiving  the  Am- 
bassador or  Minister  of  a  foreign  country  are  dig- 
Reception  of  the  nified,  though  quite  simple.     France 

first  foreign  Min- 

ister.  sent  the  first  diplomatic  representa- 

tive to  this  country  (1778)  in  the  person  of  M. 
Gerard.  He  came  as  Minister  Plenipotentiary 
and  Consul-General,  and  Congress  at  once  consti- 
tuted a  committee  to  arrange  an  order  of  cere- 
monies for  his  reception.  Some  of  the  orders  pre- 
scribed for  this  first  reception  are  still  used.  The 
address  of  the  Minister  was  to  be  presented  to 
Congress  in  advance,  as  otherwise  there  could  not 
be  an  immediate  response,  the  President  of  Con- 
gress not  being  authorized  to  speak  until  Congress 
had  taken  action  on  the  address.  The  full  force  of 
this  reason  does  not  apply  to  a  reception  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States ;  but  it  is  still  ap- 
propriate and  measurably  necessary  that  the  Pres- 
ident should  see  the  address  in  advance,  especially 
as  the  rule  prescribed  in  1778,  and  ever  since  fol- 


THE   STATE   DEPARTMENT  193 

lowed,  allows  the  address  of  the  Minister  to  be 
given  in  the  language  of  his  country — with  which 
the  President  may  be  wholly  unacquainted.  M. 
Gerard  was  escorted  to  the  hall  of  Congress  by 
two  members  of  that  body.  Now  the  Secretary  of 
State  escorts  the  Minister.  Then  the  Minister 
might  attend  the  sessions  of  Congress  and  confer 
with  that  body  in  Committee  of  the  Whole.  Now 
the  Minister  confers  with  the  Secretary  of  State, 
either  on  a  particular  day  of  the  week,  called 
"  Diplomatic  Day,"  or  at  other  times  especially  ap- 
pointed. After  the  reception  the  direct  intercourse 
between  the  President  and  a  foreign  Minister  is 
wholly  social — all  business  being  transacted  with 
or  through  the  Secretary  of  State.  The  President 
would  deny  and  even  resent  any  attempt  on  the 
part  of  a  foreign  representative  to  communicate 
directly  with  him.  But  it  has  happened  that 
the  President,  at  the  request  of  the  Secretary  of 
State,  has  met  a  foreign  Minister,  and  discussed 
with  him  an  important  international  controversy 
which  seemed  to  be  blocked. 

A  question  of  social  precedence  that  has  since 
greatly  shaken  Washington  society  was  settled  for 
the  time  by  the  rules  adopted  by  HOW  presented 

'  .  now    a    social 

Congress  in  1778,  in   these   words :  question. 
"  After  the   audience   the   members   of   Congress 
shall  be  first  visited  by  the  Minister  Plenipoten- 
13 


194  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

tiary  or  Envoy."  Then,  however,  Congress  was 
the  body  that  received  the  Minister's  credentials 
and  conducted  all  business  with  him.  The  cere- 
mony observed  in  receiving  a  Minister  now  is 
briefly  this  :  On  a  day  appointed  by  the  President 
the  new  Minister  drives  with  his  secretaries  and 
attaches  to  the  State  Department,  and  is  thence 
escorted  by  the  Secretary  of  State  to  the  Executive 
Mansion  and  conducted  to  the  Blue  Room.  The 
Secretary  then  goes  to  the  President's  office  and 
advises  him  that  the  Minister  is  in  waiting.  The 
President,  on  the  arm  of  the  Secretary,  then  pro- 
ceeds to  the  Blue  Boom,  and,  the  Minister  and  his 
suite  standing,  the  Secretary  introduces  the  Min- 
ister, who,  after  bowing,  proceeds  to  read  his  ad- 
dress, and  at  the  proper  time  hands  to  the  Presi- 
dent his  letters  of  credence,  which  are  immediately 
passed  to  the  Secretary  of  State.  When  the  ad- 
dress of  the  Minister  has  been  read  the  President 
reads  his  reply,  and  after  a  few  moments  spent  in 
informal  conversation  retires  with  the  Secretary, 
who,  returning,  conducts  the  Minister  from  the 
Executive  Mansion. 

Until  1893  the  highest  rank  given  by  our  laws 
to  our  representatives  at  the  great  European  courts 

Ambassadors     was  that  of  Envov  Extraordinary  and 

Minister   Plenipotentiary;    and   the 

diplomatic  usage  forbade  the  giving  of  a  higher 


THE   STATE   DEPAKTMENT  195 

rank  to  their  representatives  at  our  capital.  No 
foreign  representative  at  Washington  felt  the  in- 
convenience of  this  system,  for  he  held  as  high  a 
rank  as  any  other  foreign  representative  at  our 
capital,  and  so  was  not  inconvenienced  in  the 
transaction  of  business,  nor  subordinated  at  social 
functions.  But  our  Minister  at  London,  for  in- 
stance, found  in  the  diplomatic  corps  there  Ambas- 
sadors, and  some  of  them  from  very  small  powers  ; 
and  these,  on  social  occasions,  and  in  the  order  of 
their  reception  for  the  transaction  of  business  at 
the  Foreign  Office,  took  precedence  of  our  Minister, 
because  of  their  superior  diplomatic  rank.  This 
was  not  infrequently  the  occasion  of  very  consider- 
able mortification  to  our  Minister  and  of  some 
detriment  to  the  business  in  his  charge.  In  1893 
the  rank  of  our  representatives  at  the  courts  of 
France,  Germany,  Great  Britain,  Russia,  and  Italy 
was  raised  to  that  of  Ambassador  ;  and  at  once 
the  representatives  of  those  powers  at  Washington 
were  raised  to  the  same  grade. 

The  correspondence  between  our  State  Depart- 
ment and  the  foreign  office  of  another  nation  may 
be  conducted  in  either  of  two  ways  :  How  C0rre8pond. 
The  Secretary  of  State  may  use  the  ence  is  conducted. 
Ambassador  or  Minister  of  the  foreign  country  at 
Washington  as  the  medium  of  communication, 
delivering  his  notes  to  him  to  be  communicated  to 


196 

his  home  office  ;  or  he  may  use  our  Minister  at  the 
foreign  court  to  conduct  the  correspondence  under 
instructions.  The  government  that  has  the  initia- 
tive in  the  controversy  is  very  apt  to  conduct  the 
negotiations  at  its  own  capital,  for  greater  con- 
venience in  consulting  with  the  Executive,  and  for 
salaries  and  greater  certainty  in  stating  its  case. 

expenses.  Qur  Ambassadors  to  the  four  great 

Powers  of  Europe  each  receives  an  annual  salary  of 
$17,500,  and  our  Ambassador  to  Italy  $10,000. 
Out  of  his  salary  the  Ambassador  must  provide  his 
own  residence  and  meet  all  official  and  social  de- 
mands. Several  of  the  Powers  have  provided 
houses  for  their  legations  at  Washington,  but  this 
Government  has  never  thus  provided  for  any  of 
its  representatives  abroad.  The  diplomatic  service 
has  sometimes  been  assailed  in  Congress  as  a 
purely  ornamental  one ;  and  while  the  evident 
necessity  of  maintaining  the  service  is  such  as 
ought  to  save  it  from  the  destructionists,  it  is  quite 
true  that  our  diplomatic  relations  with  some  of  the 
Powers  are  more  ceremonious  than  practical.  But 
we  must  be  equipped  for  emergencies,  and  every 
now  and  then,  even  at  the  smallest  and  most  re- 
mote courts,  there  is  a  critical  need  of  an  Amer- 
ican representative  to  protect  American  citizens  or 

American  interests. 
The  consular  service  is  the  business  side  of  our 


THE   STATE  DEPARTMENT  197 

foreign  establishment.  There  are  more  than  twelve 
hundred  persons  employed  in  this  service.  They 
are  located  in  the  important  commer-  The  congnlar  ^ 
cial  cities  and  towns  of  the  world,  vice-duties, 
and  are  described  as  consuls-general,  consuls,  com- 
mercial agents,  interpreters,  marshals,  and  clerks. 
The  duties  of  a  consul  are  multifarious.  He  is  the 
protector  and  guardian  of  American  commerce  ; 
provides  for  destitute  American  sailors  and  sends 
them  home ;  takes  charge  of  the  effects  of  Ameri- 
can citizens  dying  in  his  jurisdiction  and  having  no 
legal  representative;  receives  the  declarations  or 
protests  of  our  citizens  in  any  matter  affecting 
their  rights ;  keeps  a  record  of  the  arrival  and  de- 
parture of  American  ships  and  of  their  cargoes, 
and  looks  after  vessels  wrecked ;  reports  any  new 
inventions  or  improvements  in  manufacturing  proc- 
esses that  he  may  observe,  and  all  useful  infor- 
mation relating  to  manufactures,  population,  scien- 
tific discoveries,  or  progress  in  the  useful  arts,  and 
all  events  or  facts  that  may  affect  the  trade  of  the 
United  States,  and  authenticates  invoices  and 
statements  of  the  market  value  of  merchandise  to 
be  shipped  to  the  United  States.  Every  consulate 
is  a  commercial  outpost ;  and  if  the  service  could 
be  given  permanence  of  tenure,  and  a  corps  of  men 
of  competent  equipment,  it  would  become  a  power- 
ful agency  in  extending  our  commerce. 


198  THIS   COUNTEY   OF   OUBS 

The  need  of  a  better  consular  service  has  been 
getting  a  strong  hold  upon  the  public  mind.  The 
Better  service  practice  has  been  to  make  frequent 
changes  in  these  offices — indeed,  an 
almost  complete  change  upon  the  coming  in  of  an 
administration  of  a  different  party.  An  acquaint- 
ance with  the  language  of  the  country  in  which  he 
serves  is  so  important  as  to  be  nearly  indispen- 
sable to  the  full  discharge  of  a  consul's  duties. 
For  he  should  be  able  to  go  into  the  shops  and 
offices  of  commerce,  familiarize  himself  with  all 
new  processes,  and  discover  any  openings  that 
may  present  themselves  for  the  extension  of  our 
trade. 

It  is  remarked  that  changes  in  the  home  admin- 
istration in  other  countries,  such  as  England  and 
France,  do  not  involve  changes  in  the  ambassadors  or 
ministers  or  consuls,  as  they  do  with  us.  The  Eng- 
lish Ambassador  at  Washington  holds  on  wheth- 
er the  Liberals  or  the  Tories  are  in  power.  He 
represents  his  country,  not  a  party,  and  carries  out 
his  instructions  from  the  home  Government  loyally. 
He  is  never  heard  to  make  speeches 

Ambas  8  a  d  o  r  s 

thouid  leave  thdr  attacking  the  policy  of  the  governing 
party — or  criticising  his  own  people. 
Perhaps  one  of  the  chief  difficulties  in  the  wray  of 
our  getting  a  permanent  diplomatic  and  consular 
service  grows  out  of  the  fact  that  the  tariff  ques- 


THE   STATE  DEPAKTMENT  199 

tion  is  one  that  is  always  acute  in  our  politics,  and 
the  reports  of  our  consuls  and  the  speeches  of  our 
ministers  too  often  express  the  views  held  by  them 
upon  this  question.  We  cannot  have  a  permanent 
diplomatic  and  consular  service  until  we  can  find 
diplomats  and  consuls  who  will  leave  their  party 
politics  at  home.  If  these  are  to  be  aired  or  exer- 
cised abroad,  then  it  follows  that  they  must  be  in 
harmony  with  the  party  in  power  at  home.  There 
is  no  other  way  as  to  officers  whose  work  and  ex- 
pressions affect  public  or  political  policies — how- 
ever much  we  may  wish  there  were. 

The  Secretary  of  State  is  the  custodian  of  "  The 
Great  Seal  of  the  United  States  of  America." 
When  the  civil  list  became  so  large  The  ••  Great 

,,     ,    .,  .  , .      ,  ,  Seal "    and    its 

that  it  was  impracticable  to  use  the  use. 
Great  Seal  to  certify  the  President's  signature  to 
all  commissions,  Congress  authorized  the  use  of  the 
seals  of  the  Post-  office  Department,  of  the  Interior 
Department,  and  of  the  Department  of  Justice  re- 
spectively, in  certifying  the  commissions  of  all 
officers  under  those  departments. 

The  law  of  1789  provides  "  that  the  said  Seal 
shall  not  be  affixed  to  any  commission  before  the 
same  shall  have  been  signed  by  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  nor  to  any  instrument  or  act 
without  the  special  warrant  of  the  President 
therefor." 


200 

A  description  of  the  devices  proposed,  or  of  the 
Seal  as  adopted,  cannot  be  fully  understood  by 
those  unversed  in  heraldry.  The  following  was 
the  interpretation  of  the  Seal  as  adopted  by  Con- 
gress : 

The  Escutcheon  is  composed  of  the  Chief  and  Pale, 
the  two  most  honorable  ordinaries.  The  pieces,  paly, 
represent  the  several  States  all  joined  in  one  solid,  com- 
pact entire,  supporting  a  Chief,  which  unites  the  whole 
and  represents  Congress.  The  Motto  alludes  to  this 
Union.  The  pales  in  the  arms  are  kept  closely  united 
by  the  chief  and  the  chief  depends  on  that  Union  and 
the  strength  resulting  from  it  for  its  support,  to  denote 
the  confederacy  of  the  United  States  of  America  and  the 
preservation  of  their  Union  through  Congress.  The 
colors  of  the  pales  are  those  used  in  the  flag  of  the 
United  States  of  America ;  White  signifies  purity  and 
innocence,  Red,  hardiness  and  valor,  and  Blue,  the  color 
of  the  Chief,  signifies  vigilance  perseverance  and  justice. 
The  Olive  branch  and  arrows  denote  the  power  of  peace 
and  war  which  is  exclusively  vested  in  Congress.  The 
Constellation  denotes  a  new  State  taking  its  place  and 
rank  among  other  sovereign  powers.  The  Escutcheon 
is  borne  on  the  breast  of  an  American  eagle  without  any 
other  supporters,  to  denote  that  the  United  States  ought 
to  rely  on  their  own  Virtue. 

Reverse.  The  pyramid  signifies  Strength  and  Dura- 
tion :  The  Eye  over  it  and  the  motto  allude  to  the  many 
signal  interpositions  of  Providence  in  favor  of  the  Amer- 
ican cause.  The  date  underneath  is  that  of  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence  and  the  words  under  it  signify  the 


THE   STATE   DEPARTMENT  201 

beginning  of  the  new  American  era,  which  commences 
from  that  date. 

The  reverse,  or  pyramid  side,  of  "The  Great 
Seal  of  the  United  States  of  America  "  has  never 
been  cut. 


CHAPTEE  XII 
THE   TREASURY  DEPARTMENT 

IT  is  THE  STEAM-PLANT — TRANSACTIONS  AFFECT  MONET  MAR- 
KET— OUR  MIXED  CURRENCY  SYSTEM — GOLD  REDEMPTION 
AND  RESERVE — ESTABLISHED  UNDER  CONSTITUTION — HAMIL- 
TON THE  FIRST  SECRETARY — ORGANIZATION  OF  DEPARTMENT — 
PRINCIPAL  OFFICERS  AND  THEIR  DUTIES. 

THE  first  need  that  confronted  the  Government 
under  the  Constitution  was  a  revenue.     Indepen- 
dent national  life  is  impossible  with- 

A  public  revenue 

out  it.  The  security  and  convenience 
of  the  citizen  come  at  a  cost,  and  he  must  pay  it. 
Taxes,  a  treasury,  and  a  law  authorizing  the  use 
of  the  public  money  for  public  purposes  are  pri- 
mary things.  Without  these  the  mails  would  choke 
the  deposit  boxes ;  the  courts  would  hold  no  terms, 
and  criminals  would  be  neither  apprehended  nor 
tried ;  all  public  officers  would  abandon  their 
posts ;  the  unpaid  and  unfed  soldiers  would  desert 
the  colors ;  the  sailors  would  leave  the  decks  of 
our  smokeless  war-ships  ;  the  Indian  tribes  would 
collect  their  annuities  in  the  old  way  from  the 
defenceless  settlers,  and  our  Government  would  be 
like  a  great  mill  filled  with  perfect  machinery,  but 

without  fuel  or  a  fire-box. 

202 


THE   TREASURY   DEPARTMENT  203 

The  Treasury  Department  is  the  steam-plant 
from  which  all  the  other  departments  get  their 
power.  In  the  ordinary  operations  of  Treasury  the 
Government  it  is  only  a  coUecting  *team-piant 
and  disbursing  agency — collecting  such  taxes  as 
Congress  has  authorized,  and  paying  out  the  money 
as  directed  by  law.  It  would  be  an  ideal  condition 
of  things  if  the  Treasury  Department  received  each 
morning  just  the  sum  of  money  it  had  to  pay  out 
that  day — no  surplus  money  out  of  use  in  its  vaults, 
no  deficit  to  be  met  by  loans.  But  things  cannot  be 
so  nicely  adjusted.  Wars  make  burdens  that  a  single 
generation  cannot  bear,  and  they  must,  in  part,  be 
put  over  upon  other  generations,  by  the  sale  of  time 
bonds  bearing  interest.  Out  of  the  devices  adopted 
to  meet  the  great  expenditure  for  the  suppression 
of  the  Rebellion  of  1861  it  has  come  to  pass  that 
the  Government  furnishes,  either  directly  or  through 
the  national  banks,  all  of  the  money  used  by  the 
people.  The  Treasury  Department  is  now  a  great 
bank,  and  no  longer  a  mere  public  collecting  and 
disbursing  agency.  It  prints  paper  money,  pays  it 
out  for  public  uses,  receives  it  in  payment  of  cus- 
toms duties  and  internal  taxes,  and  pays  it  out 
again  for  salaries,  supplies,  and  public  works.  It 
is  also  required  to  redeem  the  greenbacks  and 
treasury  notes — to  give  coin  in  exchange  for  them 
if  demanded. 


204  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

It  would  be  out  of  place  here  to  discuss  the 

money  question.     It  is  enough  to  say  that  ever 

Our  currency  since  the  resumption  of  specie  pay- 

system— Redemp- 

tf°n-  ments,  in  1879,  the  Treasury  has  paid 

gold  for  greenbacks  when  gold  was  demanded,  and 
has  redeemed,  in  the  same  way,  the  notes  issued 
under  the  Sherman  Law.  The  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  has  never  exercised  the  discretion  given 
him  to  redeem  the  latter  notes  in  silver — hold- 
ing that  his  discretion  was  limited  to  such  a  use 
of  silver  as  would  not  destroy  the  parity  of  the 
gold  and  silver  dollars,  which  the  law  says  shall  be 
maintained,  and  that  the  refusal  to  give  the  holder 
of  these  notes  gold,  when  he  demanded  it,  would 
destroy  that  parity.  No  one  is  bound  to  pay  gold 
to  the  Government  for  any  tax  or  other  debt  due 
to  it.  So  that  practically  the  situation  is  this: 
The  Treasury  holds  itself  bound  to  give  gold  to 
everyone  presenting  a  United  States  note,  and  has 
no  way  of  compelling  anyone  to  pay  gold  to  it. 
Such  gold  as  it  gets  comes  from  persons  who  choose 
to  take  paper  money  for  gold  deposited  at  the  mints, 
assay  offices,  or  sub-treasuries,  or  to  pay  in  gold 
coin  some  Government  tax.  Formerly  all  duties 
upon  imports  were  payable  onl}r  in  gold.  Now 
when  the  gold  reserve  gets  low  it  can  only  be 
restored  by  the  sale  of  bonds,  under  the  powers 
given  to  the  Secretary  in  the  legislation  relating  to 


THE  TREASURY  DEPARTMENT      205 

the  resumption  of  specie  payments.  This  legisla- 
tion does  not  permit  the  sale  of  bonds  payable  in 
gold,  and  Congress  has  refused  to  give  the  Sec- 
retary power  to  sell  a  gold  bond.  The  situation 
would  be  absurd  if  it  were  not  so  serious. 

The  money  operations  of  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment are  very  large.  For  the  fiscal  year  ending 
June  30,  1896,  the  receipts  were  OperationB  affect 
$409,475,408.78,  and  the  disburse- 
ments $434,678,654.48.  The  taking  in  and  the 
paying  out  of  such  enormous  sums  must  directly 
and  strongly  affect  the  money  market,  and  so  the 
general  business  of  the  country.  And  when  the 
Treasury  buys  or  sells  bonds  its  influence  on  the 
market  is  greatly  increased.  If  the  revenues  are 
largely  in  excess  of  expenditures  the  surplus  is 
taken  out  of  use  in  commerce  and  locked  up  in 
the  Treasury  vaults,  and  the  money  market  is 
tightened.  If  the  surplus  is  used  to  buy  Govern- 
ment bonds  not  yet  due  the  market  is  eased.  The 
gold  reserve,  too,  as  it  is  diminished  by  exporta- 
tions  of  gold,  or  increased  by  bond  sales,  power- 
fully affects  every  business  interest.  What  is  the 
Treasury  going  to  do  ?  is  the  query  heard  in  every 
bank,  and  counting-room,  and  store.  It  is  unfort- 
unate, I  think,  that  this  should  be  so — and  the 
mending  of  existing  conditions  will  be  a  task  for 
the  wisest  and  strongest  statesmanship. 


206 

But,  while  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  has  a 
large  discretion  in  a  few  directions,  and  may  by  its 

Discretion  of  exercise  largely  influence  the  money 
bary'  market,  he  is,  in  the  main,  conduct- 
ing a  great  bank  on  undeviatiug  and  unelastic 
rules,  and  with  Congress  for  his  board  of  directors. 
He  is  not  chosen  by  the  board,  and  is  rather 
more  often  than  not,  out  of  harmony  with  it.  The 
managers  of  the  Bank  of  England  may,  by  some 
small  allowances  in  the  way  of  interest  or  ex- 
change, draw  gold  to  its  vaults  from  New  York; 
but  if  fifty  dollars  would  suffice  to  hold  fifty  mill- 
ions of  dollars  of  gold  in  the  United  States  Treas- 
ury the  Secretary  could  not  expend  that  small 
sum.  He  must  stand  by  until  the  gold  is  gone, 
and  then  sell  bonds  to  bring  it  back.  The  result 
is  that  the  banks  and  the  brokers  are  able  often  to 
make  play  of  the  Treasury.  A  financial  institu- 
tion whose  board  transacts  its  business  in  public 
and  airs  all  its  disagreements,  is  at  a  disadvantage. 

The  finances  of  our  country  were,  like  its  for- 
eign affairs,  at  the  beginning,  conducted  by  Con- 
Treasury  De-  gress  through  a  committee — a  method 

partment   under 

confederation.  even  less  adapted  to  the  keeping  of 
money  accounts  than  to  diplomatic  action.  Accu- 
racy and  safety  in  money  matters  require  the  ac- 
countability of  one  man  as  a  treasurer,  a  system  of 
auditing  and  book-keeping,  and  a  permanent  office. 


THE  TEEASUKY  DEPARTMENT      207 

The  office  came  first,  and  then  a  Comptroller,  an 
Auditor,  and  two  Chambers  of  Accounts  were  pro- 
vided by  Congress.  In  February,  1779,  the  office 
of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  was  created,  but  in  the 
following  July  the  system  was  changed  and  a  Board 
of  Treasury  substituted.  Two  years  later  a  Super- 
intendent of  Finance  was  provided  for,  and  after 
three  years  more  Congress  again  returned  to  the 
system  of  a  Treasury  Board.  Our  fathers  were  ex- 
perimenting, and  the  truest  and  most  creditable 
thing  that  we  can  say  of  them  is  that  they  profited  by 
experience,  and  allowed  the  doctrine  of  evolution, 
as  applied  to  civil  institutions,  to  have  its  sure  way. 
Those  who,  as  Committeemen,  Boards  of  Treas- 
ury, or  Superintendents,  had  charge  of  our  finances 
before  the  adoption  of  the  Constitu-  i^anc^n,  had 
tion,  had,  of  all  men  connected  with  the  hardest  part 
the  Revolutionary  struggle,  the  hardest  part.  For 
who  would  not  rather  be  shot  at,  with  the  privilege 
of  returning  the  fire,  than  be  ceaselessly  dunned 
by  importunate  and  suffering  creditors?  The 
Treasury  got  only  such  money  as  it  could  borrow, 
and  such  as  the  States  voluntarily  contributed. 
Nobody  owed  the  Treasury  anything,  the  collection 
of  which  could  be  enforced,  and  the  Treasury  owed 
nearly  everybody  something  that  could  not  be  paid. 
The  Army  was  half-clothed,  and  half-fed,  and  wholly 
unpaid.  A  soldier  does  not,  however,  much  mind 


208  THIS   COTJNTKY   OF   OUES 

his  own  diet  or  discomfort.  Parched  corn  will  do, 
and  bare  feet  and  bullet  wounds  do  not  altogether 
take  the  heart  out  of  him — but  a  starving  wife  and 
baby  do.  Until  by  the  adoption  of  the  Constitu- 
tion the  Congress  was  given  power  to  lay  and  col- 
lect taxes  the  state  of  the  Treasury  was  not  only 
lamentable  but  disgraceful. 

Robert  Morris,  who  had  made  a  great  name  and 

a   great   fortune  in  mercantile   pursuits,  was   ap- 

Robert  Moms,  pointed   Superintendent   of   Finance 

Superintendent  of 

Finance.  on   February  20,  1781,  but  did  not 

accept  until  May  ;  and  it  was  several  months  later 
before  he  assumed  full  control  of  the  office.  Ham- 
ilton, pending  Morris's  acceptance,  wrote  to  him 
as  follows  : 

I  am  happy  in  believing  you  will  not  easily  be  dis- 
couraged from  undertaking  an  office,  by  which  you  ren- 
der America  and  the  world  no  less  a  service  than  the 
establishment  of  American  independence.  'Tis  by  in- 
troducing order  into  our  finances,  by  restoring  public 
credit,  not  by  gaining  battles,  that  we  are  finally  to  gain 
our  object.  'Tis  by  putting  ourselves  in  a  condition  to 
continue  the  war,  not  by  temporary,  violent  and  unnat- 
ural efforts  to  bring  it  to  a  decisive  issue,  that  we  shall 
in  reality  bring  it  to  a  speedy  and  successful  one.  In 
the  frankness  of  truth,  I  believe,  sir,  you  are  the  man 
best  capable  of  performing  this  great  work. 

It  seems  that  Morris  had  also  a  high  estimation 
of  Hamilton's  ability  as  a  financier,  for  it  is  said 


THE  TEEASURY  DEPARTMENT      209 

that,  in  a  conversation  with  Washington,  and  in 
response  to  the  question,  "  What  are  we  to  do 
with  this  heavy  debt  ?  "  he  said  :  "  There  is  but 
one  man  in  the  United  States  who  can  tell  you — 
that  is  Alexander  Hamilton." 

The  "Act  to  establish  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment "  was  approved  by  Washington,  September  2, 
1789,  and  on  the  eleventh  day  of  the  ^^^  under 
same  month  Alexander  Hamilton  H^mnto^^fi?^ 
was  commissioned  as  Secretary.  A 
funding  scheme  prepared  by  Hamilton  having 
been  adopted,  the  liberties  wrested  by  arms  from 
the  British  crown  were  made  secure,  and  the  credit 
of  the  Government  passed  from  collapse  into  con- 
valescence. 

Of  Hamilton's  great  work  in  the  Treasury  De- 
partment Webster  said :  "  He  smote  the  rock  of  the 
National  resources,  and  abundant  streams  of  rev- 
enue gushed  forth.  He  touched  the  dead  corpse 
of  Public  Credit,  and  it  sprung  upon  its  feet." 

The  interest-bearing  debt  of  the  United  States 
was  about  $75,000,000  when  Government  under 
the  Constitution  was  inaugurated,  p^  debt  paid 
It  had  grown  to  $86,000,000  by  1804, 
had  fallen  to  $45,000,000  in  1812 ;  and  the  debt 
that  many,  at  the  close  of  the  war  of  independence, 
believed  to  be  as  permanent  as  the  Constitution, 

was  paid  in  1835. 
14 


210  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

The  organization  prescribed  by  the  law  of  1789 
was  a  Secretary,  to  be  the  head  of  the  Treas- 
The Department  urv  Department;  a  Comptroller,  an- 
organization.  Auaitor,  a  Eegister,  and  an  assistant 
to  the  Secretary.  This  general  organization  is 
still  in  use,  though  there  are  now  three  Assistant 
Secretaries  and  six  Auditors.  Until  recently 
there  were  two  Comptrollers  of  the  Treasury,  but 
the  Act  of  July,  1894,  abolished  the  office  of  Sec- 
ond Comptroller,  and  there  is  now  but  one.  Other 
principal  officers  have  been  added  as  new  func- 
tions or  the  increasing  work  called  for  them,  such 
as  a  Treasurer,  Directors  of  the  Mint,  and  of  the 
Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Printing ;  Superintend- 
ents of  the  Life-Saving  Service,  and  of  the  Coast 
Survey ;  a  Supervising  Architect,  a  Supervising 
Inspector  -  General  of  Steam  Vessels,  a  Light- 
House  Board,  a  Supervising  Surgeon-General  of 
Marine  Hospitals,  a  Comptroller  of  the  Currency, 
Commissioners  of  Internal  Revenue,  of  Navigation, 
and  of  Immigration;  and  Chiefs  of  the  Secret  Ser- 
vice and  of  the  Bureau  of  Statistics.  The  general 
duties  of  the  Secretary,  as  prescribed  in  the  law  of 
September  2,  1789,  have  not  been  materially  modi- 
fied. They  were  :  To  collect  the  public  revenues 
and  to  digest  and  prepare  plans  for  the  improve- 
ment and  management  thereof,  and  for  the  support 
of  the  public  credit ;  to  make  estimates  of  receipts 


THE  TREASURY  DEPARTMENT      211 

and  expenditures ;  to  grant  warrants  for  moneys 
appropriated ;  to  provide  for  the  keeping  of  proper 
accounts,  and  to  make  reports  and  give  information 
to  Congress,  in  person  or  in  writing,  as  required. 

The  Treasury  Department  receives  all  moneys 
due  to  the  Government,  pays  out  all  moneys  due 
from  it,  and  keeps  a  book-account  of  collecting  and 

disbursing   agen- 

all  these  transactions.  Money  is  cov-  cy. 
ered  into  the  Treasury  by  warrants,  upon  which  the 
Treasurer  endorses  his  receipt,  and  is  paid  out 
upon  warrants  drawn  upon  him.  The  appropria- 
tion bills  passed  by  Congress  furnish  the  only  au- 
thority for  paying  out  money  from  the  Treasury. 

The  assistant  secretaries  have  assigned  to  them 
the  general  supervision  of  the  work  and  corre- 
spondence of  specified  bureaus  and  divisions.  One 
of  them  may  be  designated  by  the  Secretary  to 
sign  in  his  stead  warrants  for  covering  money 
into  the  Treasury,  and  for  the  disbursement  of 
money  upon  accounts  properly  audited  and  settled, 
and,  in  the  absence  of  the  Secretary,  to  act  as  the 
head  of  the  department. 

The  officer  immediately  in  charge  of  and  respon- 
sible for  the  public  moneys  is  called  the  Treas- 
urer, and  the  rooms  and  vaults  in  the 

The  Treasurer. 

Treasury    Building    at    Washington 

used  by  him,  and  such  other  apartments  as  are 

provided   for   the   deposit   of   public   money,   are 


212  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OUES 

called  the  "  Treasury  of  the  United  States."  The 
Treasurer  is  charged,  not  only  with  the  moneys  in 
his  vaults  at  Washington,  but  with  those  in  other 
authorized  depositories.  He  is  required  to  pay 
the  interest  on  the  public  debt;  to  receive  the 
United  States  notes,  and  to  issue  new  notes  for 
notes  returned,  and  destroyed  by  him.  He  redeems 
the  notes  of  the  national  banks  presented  to  him 
out  of  a  fund  the  banks  are  required  to  keep  with 
him.  He  is  the  custodian  of  the  United  States 
bonds  deposited  to  secure  the  circulating  notes  of 
the  banks,  and  to  secure  public  money  deposited 
with  the  banks. 

A  Register  of  the  Treasury  was  provided  for  in 
the  first  organization  of  the  Treasury  Department. 

Register  of     ^e  was»  un^il  recently,  a  sort  of  gen- 
rreasury.      eraj  kook_keeper  for  the  department, 

and  received  and  filed  all  adjusted  accounts  and 
vouchers,  recorded  and  certified  warrants  for  the 
receipt  and  expenditure  of  money,  etc.  The  Act 
of  July,  1894,  established  a  Division  of  Book- 
keeping and  Warrants,  which  is  now  required  to 
keep  an  account  of  all  the  receipts  and  expendi- 
tures of  the  Government,  except  those  relating  to 
the  Post-Office  Department.  The  Register  signs 
and  issues  United  States  bonds,  registers  those 
that  are  made  payable  to  particular  persons — as 
distinguished  from  the  coupon  bonds  that  are  pay- 


THE  TEEASUEY  DEPAETMENT      213 

able  to  bearer — and  furnishes  to  the  Secretary  a 
list  of  the  persons  to  whom  interest  on  the  regis- 
tered bonds  is  due.  He  signs  transfers  of  money 
from  the  Treasury  to  any  depository.  He  receives, 
arranges,  and  registers  United  States  notes,  Treas- 
ury notes,  gold  and  silver  certificates,  interest  cou- 
pons, and  other  securities  redeemed  and  destroyed, 
and  also  all  condemned  customs,  internal  revenue, 
and  postage-stamps. 

A  comptroller  is  one  who  controls.  The  Comp- 
troller of  the  Treasury  is  a  superior  supervising 
officer  of  accounts.  A  First  Comp-  Comptroller  of 
troller  once  said,  pleasantly  but  Treasury, 
proudly,  to  the  President :  "  No  one  can  overrule 
me — not  the  Secretary,  not  even  you,  Mr.  Presi- 
dent." "  No,"  said  the  President,  "  I  cannot  over- 
rule your  decisions,  but  I  can  make  a  new  Comp- 
troller." The  Comptroller  of  the  Treasury  is  no 
longer  required  to  supervise  and  settle  all  of  the 
accounts  .acted  upon  by  the  auditors,  but  only  such 
as  may  be  appealed  to  him — the  claimant,  the 
head  of  the  department,  or  of  the  board  or  com- 
mission, not  under  a  department,  to  which  the 
account  appertains,  or  the  Comptroller  himself, 
having  the  right  to  bring  the  case  up  for  review. 
Upon  the  request  of  the  head  of  a  department,  or 
of  any  officer  charged  with  the  duty  of  paying  out 
public  moneys,  the  Comptroller  must,  in  advance, 


214  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

give  his  opinion  as  to  the  rightfulness  of  a  pro- 
posed payment,  and  the  opinion  given  governs  in 
adjusting  the  account.  When  an  original  con- 
struction of  a  law  is  made  by  one  of  the  auditors, 
or  a  construction  before  adopted  is  modified,  the 
Comptroller  must  pass  upon  the  question.  The 
decisions  of  the  Comptroller  are  binding  upon  all 
executive  officers,  including  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury.  But  he  may  be  reviewed  by  the  courts 
if  the  matter  is  taken  there,  and  the  Secretary  may 
suspend  payment  of  an  account  and  order  a  re- 
examination.  All  warrants  for  the  disbursement 
of  money  must  be  countersigned  by  the  Comp- 
troller. 

There  is  still  another  comptroller  in  the  Treas- 
ury Department,  but  his  sphere  is  limited.  His 
comptroller  of  bureau  Avas  established  in  1863,  and 

the  Currency.  the  head  of  it  ig  gtyled  the  „  Comp- 
troller of  the  Currency."  He  is  charged  "  with  the 
execution  of  all  laws  passed  by  Congress  relating 
to  the  issue  and  regulation  of  a  national  currency 
secured  by  United  States  bonds,"  and  is  to  per- 
form his  duties  "  under  the  general  direction  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury."  Those  duties  are 
to  supervise  the  national  banks  and  to  see  that 
the  law  is  complied  with  in  every  particular  in 
the  organization  of  such  banks.  His  certificate  is 
necessary  before  a  bank  can  open  for  business. 


THE  TKEASURY  DEPARTMENT      215 

Regular  reports  are  made  to  him  by  every  bank, 
showing  the  state  of  its  business,  and  he  may  call 
for  special  reports  from  all  or  any  of  them.  He 
has  under  him  bank  examiners,  who  visit  the 
banks  and  examine  their  accounts.  In  case  of 
the  failure  of  a  bank  he  may  take  charge  by  an 
agent  or  receiver,  and  wind  it  up  and  distribute 
its  assets  to  its  creditors.  He  causes  the  bank- 
notes to  be  printed,  and  delivers  the  same  to  the 
banks  as  they  may  be  entitled  to  them.  - 

There  are  six  auditors  in  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment, and  all  the  accounts  of  the  Government  are 
examined  and  passed  upon  by  them. 

The  auditors. 

Every  public  officer  who  pays  out 
money  must  submit  an  account  with  proper  vouch- 
ers, and  he  does  not  get  credit  against  the  moneys 
charged  to  him  until  his  account  has  been  audited 
and  passed  as  correct.  The  auditors  were,  until 
very  recently,  designated  by  numbers — first  to 
sixth  inclusive ;  but,  under  the  law  of  1894,  they 
are  designated  as  auditors  for  the  various  depart- 
ments —  Auditor  for  the  Treasury  Department, 
Auditor  for  the  War  Department,  etc.  The  old 
Fifth  Auditor  is  now  "  Auditor  for  the  State  and 
other  departments."  The  accounts  allowed  by  the 
auditors  are  certified  directly  to  the  Division  of 
Book-keeping  and  Warrants  in  the  office  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  a  copy  is  sent  to 


216  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

the  head  of  the  department  in  which  the  account 
originated. 

Until  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War  a  per- 
manent system  of  internal  taxation  was  unneces- 
sary.    The  customs  duties,  the  pro- 

Internal  Revenue.  •>•,••, 

ceeds  of  the  public  lands,  and  some 
smaller  incidental  sources  of  revenue,  were  relied 
upon  to  meet  the  current  expenses,  and  if  there 
was  a  temporary  deficiency  it  was  covered  by 
loans,  or  by  a  temporary  exercise  of  the  internal 
taxing  power — as  in  the  unsatisfactory  attempt 
to  collect  a  tax  on  whiskey  in  1791.  But  the 
gigantic  struggle  for  the  defence  of  the  nation 
against  secession  not  only  called  into  exercise 
every  taxing  power  given  by  the  Constitution, 
but  put  every  such  power  upon  a  high  tension. 
Many  of  my  readers  are  too  young  to  remem- 
ber how  long  and  how  greedy  was  the  hand  of 
the  Treasury  as  it  reached  out  into  all  parts  of 
the  land,  and  into  the  business  concerns  of  every 
man  and  woman,  to  gather  the  revenues  needed  to 
carry  on  the  war.  Constitutional  questions  were 
judged  liberally  in  those  days,  for  it  was  not 
thought  worth  while  to  preserve  the  Constitution 
as  a  book  and  let  the  nation  die.  An  Internal 
Revenue  Bureau  came  naturally  into  being  in  1862, 
as  the  managing  agency  of  these  internal  taxes, 
and  has  probably  become  a  fixture  in  the  Treasury 


THE  TREASURY  DEPARTMENT      217 

Department.  The  head  of  the  bureau  is  called  the 
Commissioner  of  Internal  Revenue,  and  his  duty 
is,  under  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas-  Commiesioner  of 
ury,  to  superintend  the  collection  of  Internal  Kevenue' 
internal  taxes.  These  taxes  are  now  chiefly  those 
laid  on  distilled  spirits,  beer,  tobacco,  and  oleo- 
margarine. The  Commissioner,  through  an  army 
of  store-keepers  and  gaugers,  watches  over  the 
production  of  all  distilled  spirits,  gauges  every 
package  and  collects  the  tax  upon  each  gallon. 
The  receipts  from  internal  revenue  for  the  fiscal 
year  ending  June  30,  1896,  were  $146,762,864.74, 
being  only  about  thirteen  millions  less  than  the 
receipts  from  customs. 

Very  naturally  the  national  coinage  is  under  the 
direction  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury ;  and  so 
there  is  a  Bureau  of  the  Mint,  and  Director  of  the 
the  head  of  it  is  called  the  Director 
of  the  Mint.  He  has  the  supervision  of  all  the 
mints  and  assay  offices.  So,  too,  as  all  our  paper 
money,  including  national  bank-notes,  is  made,  cer- 
tified, and  issued  by  the  Treasury  Department,  the 
work  of  engraving  the  plates  for  all  these  circulat- 
ing notes,  for  the  United  States  bonds,  and  for  our 
revenue  and  postage-stamps,  and  of  printing  the 
notes,  bonds,  and  stamps,  is  done  through  a  bureau 
of  the  department  called  the  Bureau  of  Engraving 
and  Printing.  In  the  business  of  making  coins 


218  THIS    COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

and  notes  to  be  used  as  money  of  the  United  States 
the  Treasury  Department  has  an  exclusive  fran- 
chise, and  is  so  jealous  of  it  that  it  pursues  venge- 
fully  all  persons  who  attempt  to  make  such  coins 
or  notes.  To  make  this  pursuit  effective  there  is 
a  Secret  Service  Division,  with  a  chief  and  a  corps 
of  skilled  detectives,  whose  business  it  is  to  un- 
cover and  arrest  all  counterfeiters  of  the  coins  or 
securities  of  the  United  States. 

But  the  Treasury  Department  is  more  than  a 
mere  counting-office.  Hidden  away  among  its 
prosaic  books  of  record,  its  piles  of  silver  dollars, 
and  the  sedate  men  and  women  who  foot  the  col- 
umns of  the  books  and  tell  the  tale  of  the  dollars, 
are  some  workers  who  have  to  do  with  reports  of 
heroic  adventure,  and  of  succor  to  the  suffering 
or  imperilled,  and  some  sketches  and  models  that 
are  at  least  suggestive  of  art. 

The  Supervising  Architect  is  an  official  of  the 
Treasury  Department,  and  his  business  is  to  pre- 

Superviaing  Ar-    Pare    the    PlanS    f°r   Public   buildings, 

and  to  superintend  the  erection  of 
them.  Some  effort  has  been  made  to  secure  com- 
petitive designs  from  our  best  architects  for  the 
great  buildings  we  are  to  erect,  and  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  by  this  means  the  monotony  and 
unsightliness  that  have  too  much  prevailed  may  be 
broken  up. 


THE  TREASURY  DEPARTMENT      219 

The  Marine  Hospitals,  where  our  sick  seamen 
are  received  and  cared  for,  are  man-  Marine  Hospi- 

.    .  tals    and    Coast 

aged  by  a  Supervising  Surgeon-Gen-     survey. 
eral,  under  the  direction  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury. 

The  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey  is  another  most 
interesting  and  useful  work  which  is  supervised 
by  the  Secretary,  though  the  Superintendent  of  it 
and  his  office  force  are  not  housed  in  the  Treasury 
Building.  The  work  of  the  bureau  is  highly  scien- 
tific, and  at  the  same  time  eminently  practical  and 
useful.  It  is  to  make  a  survey  of  our  entire  coast 
for  a  distance  of  twenty  leagues  from  shore,  and  of 
all  our  harbors ;  to  locate  all  shoals,  rocks,  and  other 
dangers  to  navigation ;  to  take  soundings,  and  to 
chart  all  of  these  results  for  the  use  of  sailing-mas- 
ters. The  geodetic  work  is  the  making  of  an  accu- 
rate survey  of  land  lines  across  the  continent  with 
a  view  to  a  more  exact  knowledge  of  the  form  of  the 
earth.  The  surveys  and  calculations  are  made  in 
part  by  officers  of  the  Navy,  detailed  for  that  service, 
and  in  part  by  scientific  men  selected  from  civil  life. 

When    the    Coast    Survey    has    revealed    and 
charted  the  dangers  and  the  safe  paths  of  com- 
merce, then  the  Light-House  Board,     u  ht-House 
of  which  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas-        Board' 
ury  is  ex-officio  President,  takes  up  the  work  of 
marking  by  suitable  buoys  and  lights  these  ascer- 


220  THIS   COUNTEY   OF    OUES 

tained  dangers  and  paths.  The  coasts  of  the  oceans 
and  the  lakes  are  divided  into  districts,  and  an  in- 
spector (a  Naval  officer)  and  an  engineer  (from  the 
Engineer  Corps  of  the  Army)  are  assigned  to  the 
care  of  each  district. 

But,  spite  of  chart  and  light,  now  and  then  the 
storm  king  drives,  or  the  treacherous  fog  lures,  a 

Life-saving  vessel  upon  rock  or  shoal,  and  the 
Treasury  Department  has  a  last  duty 
to  the  seamen,  which  the  Life-saving  Service  dis- 
charges. All  along  our  sea  and  lake  coasts,  and 
especially  on  the  dangerous  stretches,  there  are 
stations,  and  between  these  all  night  long  the 
patrols  pass  to  and  fro  in  the  stormy  months,  look- 
ing for  the  signals  of  vessels  in  distress,  and  sum- 
moning their  comrades  for  the  rescue  when  such 
signals  are  seen. 


CHAPTEE    XIII 
DEPARTMENTS   OF  WAR  AND  JUSTICE 

WAR  DEPARTMENT  ORGANIZED — DUTIES  OF  SECRETARY — PRINCI- 
PAL OFFICERS — HEADS  OF  STAFF  CORPS — MAKING  BIG  GUNS 
— COAST  DEFENCES— THE  MILITARY  ACADEMY— ATTORNEY- 
GENERAL'S  OFFICE — DEPARTMENT  OF  JUSTICE  CREATED — 
DUTIES  OF  ATTORNEY-GENERAL — ORGANIZATION  OF  His  DE- 
PARTMENT. 

MILITARY  affairs  under  the  Confederation  were 
first  conducted  by  a  Committee  of  Congress,  then 
by  a  Board  of  War,  and  after  1781 

*  Organized  in  1769. 

by   a  Secretary  of  War.     The  Wai- 
Department  was  established  under  the  Constitution 
by  an  Act  of  Congress  of  date  August  7,  1789,  and 
General  Henry  Knox,  who  had  been  holding  the 
office  since  1785,  was  made  Secretary  by  Presi- 
dent Washington.     In  1890  Congress  provided  an 
Assistant  Secretary.     Before  that  there  had  been 
none.   The  larger  duties  of  the  Secre-          Daties 
tary  of  War  are  not  very  particularly      of  Secretary- 
described  in  the  statutes.     The  law  reads  :     He 
"  shall  perform  such  duties  as  shall  from  time  to 
time  be  enjoined  on  or  entrusted  to  him  by  the 
President  relative   to   military   commissions,   the 
221 


222  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

military  forces,  the  warlike  stores  of  the  United 
States,  or  to  other  matters  respecting  military 
affairs  ;  and  he  shall  conduct  the  business  of  the 
department  in  such  manner  as  the  President  shall 
direct." 

The  law  defining  the  duties  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Navy  runs  much  in  the  same  terms.  The 
thought  of  the  law-makers  seems  to  have  been  that 
as  these  departments  had  to  do  with  the  organiza- 
tion, equipment,  and  subsistence  of  the  land  and 
naval  forces  of  the  United  States,  and  the  move- 
ment of  troops  and  ships,  and  as  the  President  is 
by  the  Constitution  the  Commander-in-Chief  of 
such  forces,  the  action  of  the  heads  of  these  depart- 
ments must  proceed,  theoretically,  at  least,  upon 
the  President's  direction.  "  By  order  of  the  Secre- 
tary of  War  "  is  the  equivalent  of  "  by  order  of  the 
President,"  and  perhaps  War  Department  orders 
should  take  the  latter  form.  It  would  obviate  in 
great  measure  the  not  infrequent  differences  be- 
tween the  Secretary  and  the  General  commanding 
the  Army.  In  fact,  the  Secretary  acts  in  great 
part  upon  his  own  judgment,  and  only  consults 
the  President  and  takes  his  directions  in  important 
matters. 

All  of  the  principal  officers  of  the  War  Depart- 
ment, except  the  Secretary  and  the  Assistant 
Secretary,  are  army  officers,  the  heads  of  the  sev- 


DEPARTMENTS   OF   WAR   AND   JUSTICE      223 

eral  staff  corps,  thus  :  the  Adjutant-General,  the 
Inspector-General,  the  Judge  Advocate-General,  the 
Chief  Signal  Officer,  the  Quartermas-  Principal  officers 

—Heads  of  staff 

ter-General,  the  Commissary-General,  corps, 
the  Chief  of  Engineers,  the  Paymaster-General, 
the  Surgeon-General,  and  the  Chief  of  Ordnance. 
Each  of  these  officers  has  the  army  rank  and  pay 
of  a  brigadier-general,  and  conducts  his  office  under 
the  Secretary  of  War. 

The  titles  they  bear,  perhaps,  sufficiently  indi- 
cate their  general  duties.  The  Adjutant-General's 
office  has  to  do  with  the  muster  of 

,  .        .  <r  ,  i        A  Their  duties. 

troops,  the  organization  01  the  Army, 
the  preservation  of  the  muster  in  and  out  rolls, 
and  the  various  regimental,  company,  and  post  re- 
turns and  reports  required  by  the  army  regula- 
tions ;  and  it  is  through  this  office  that  orders  are 
issued  directing  the  movements  of  officers  and 
troops.  The  Inspector-General  visits  and  inspects 
all  military  posts,  detachments,  and  prisons,  and 
the  Military  Academy ;  reports  upon  matters  relat- 
ing to  the  equipment  and  discipline  of  the  troops, 
the  sanitary  condition  of  the  posts  and  prisons, 
and  examines  the  accounts  of  disbursing  and  issu- 
ing officers.  The  Judge  Advocate-General  is  the 
military  law  officer  of  the  department.  He  receives 
and  reviews  the  records  of  army  courts -martial, 
and  gives  to  the  Secretary  opinions  upon  law 


224  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OUES 

questions  submitted  to  him.  The  Chief  Signal 
Officer  is  the  head  of  the  Signal  Corps  of  the 
Army,  and  his  military  duties  relate  to  army 
signalling,  either  with  the  flag  (what  the  soldiers 
used  to  call  "  wig-wag  ")  or  the  heliograph,  and  to 
the  construction  and  use  of  field  telegraph  lines. 
There  was  added  to  these  military  duties  a  meteor- 
ological service,  designed  to  observe  and  report 
storms,  freshets,  and  changes  in  temperature  that 
involve  danger  to  the  mariner  or  to  the  farmer. 
This  service  has  now  been  transferred  to  the 
Agricultural  Department.  The  Quartermaster- 
General  is  charged  with  providing  practically  all 
army  supplies,  except  arms,  rations,  and  medicines, 
and  these  are  supplied  respectively  by  the  Chief  of 
Ordnance,  the  Commissary-General,  and  the  Sur- 
geon-General. Upon  the  engineer  officers  of  the 
Army  important  civil  duties  have  been  devolved, 
in  addition  to  those  of  a  military  nature.  The 
military  duties  of  the  corps  embrace  the  location 
and  construction  of  fortifications,  military  bridges, 
pontoons,  etc.  The  officers  of  the  corps  are  also 
employed  in  the  location  and  construction  of  light- 
houses, and  in  the  important  and  very  extensive 
works  undertaken  by  the  Government  for  the  im- 
provement of  harbors  and  navigable  rivers. 

The  arms,  large  and  small,  used  by  the  Army, 
are  generally  manufactured  and  repaired  at  arsenals 


DEPARTMENTS   OF   WAK  AND  JUSTICE      225 

which  are  under  the  control  of  the  War  Department 
The  most  important  of  these  are  located  at  Spring- 
field, Mass.,  Bock  Island,  111.,  and  Ar8enais_Big 
West  Troy,  N.  Y.  The  first  two  are  g™8andmortar8- 
chiefly  equipped  for  the  making  of  rifles  and 
carbines,  and  the  last  for  the  making  of  large 
guns — rifled  cannon  and  mortars.  Just  now  the 
guns,  large  and  small,  heretofore  used  by  the  Army, 
are  being  exchanged  for  the  long  range  quick- 
firing  breech-loading  modern  gun;  and  the  old 
forts,  with  their  stone  walls,  are  giving  way  to  earth 
parapets  and  holes  in  the  ground.  Large  rifled 
cannon,  carrying  projectiles  weighing  as  much  as 
1,000  pounds,  and  having  a  range  of  thirteen  miles, 
are  now  being  mounted  in  our  new  coast-defence 
works,  upon  disappearing  carriages  or  platforms, 
and  behind  parapets  not  much  above  the  sur- 
rounding surfaces.  The  range  is  found  and  the 
gun  pointed  while  it  is  in  a  pit  below  the  natural 
surface.  The  touch  of  a  lever  lifts  the  gun  above 
the  surface;  it  is  fired  and  sinks  again  into  the 
pit.  The  old  mortar  had  no  accuracy  of  fire. 
For  a  sure  mark  it  needed  a  city  not  below  the 
third  class.  But  the  new  rifled  mortar  will  find 
a  ship's  deck,  when  the  ranges  have 

Coast  defence. 

been  carefully  established.    The  long 
neglected  work   of   coast  defence   is   at  last  be- 
gun, and  the  skill  of   our   accomplished  officers 
15 


226  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OUES 

of  ordnance  and  of  engineers  will  very  soon 
make  secure  against  hostile  fleets  the  harbors 
of  our  great  cities.  With  our  coast  cities  well 
defended  by  large  guns  on  shore,  and  a  good 
fleet  in  each  of  the  great  oceans,  the  defence  of 
our  country  will  be  made  good.  No  hostile  army 
that  can  be  brought  to  our  shores  from  Europe  can 
penetrate  far  into  our  territory.  No  invader  will 
ever  tarry  to  reap  a  grain  crop.  Our  commerce  will 
be  at  risk,  but  the  larger  commerce  of  our  adver- 
sary will  be  staked  against  it.  With  every  port 
blockaded,  our  people  and  our  Army  would  lack  for 
nothing.  We  should  not  be  dependent  on  block- 
ade-runners. All  these  preparations  and  condi- 
tions will  promote  arbitration,  and, 
better  still,  the  direct  adjustment  of 
international  differences.  What  is  won  in  a  law- 
suit is  neither  given  with  grace  nor  accepted  with 
gratitude.  A  voluntary  surrender  of  the  brutal 
privilege  of  killing  pregnant  and  nursing  seals  for 
their  skins  would  be  a  better  evidence  of  good- will 
than  the  most  touching  banquet  utterances. 

It  has  never  been  the  policy  of  the  United  States 
to  maintain  a  large  standing  army.  At  the  close 
strength  of  our  of  tlie  Revolutionary  War,  when  it 
might  have  been  supposed  the  Army 
would  have  been  held  in  high  and  grateful  appre- 
ciation by  the  people,  the  popular  jealousy  and 


DEPARTMENTS   OF   WAR   AND  JUSTICE      227 

apprehension  of  the  national  troops  was  absurdly 
intense.  Congress  refused  to  authorize  the  enlist- 
ment of  eight  hundred  men  to  garrison  the  frontier 
posts  about  to  be  surrendered  by  Great  Britain. 
McMaster  says :  "  The  history  of  Greece,  the  his- 
tory of  Rome,  and  the  history  of  England  were 
then  ransacked  for  examples  of  the  ills  of  a  stand- 
ing army." l  The  Army  of  the  general  Government 
was  disbanded — only  eighty  men  being  retained  to 
protect  the  public  stores  at  Fort  Pitt  and  at  West 
Point.  The  Army  is  now  limited  by  law  to  twenty- 
five  thousand  enlisted  men.  There  are  five  regi- 
ments of  artillery,  of  twelve  batteries  each ;  ten 
regiments  of  cavalry,  of  twelve  troops  each,  and 
twenty-five  regiments  of  infantry,  of  ten  companies 
each.  The  enlisted  men  of  two  regiments  of  cav- 
alry and  two  of  infantry  are  colored  men,  and  they 
have  attained  a  high  record  for  efficiency. 

The  War  Department  maintains  a  bureau  of  in- 
formation with  a  view  to  the  collection  of  all  the 
data  necessary  to  the  understanding        Bureau  of 
and  solution  of  every  military  prob-      information- 
lem.     Arms,  rations,   transportation,  topography, 
the  concentration  of  troops,  the  strength  and  arma- 
ment of  forts,  are  taken  account  of,  not  only  as 
they  relate  to  our  own  forces  and  territory  but  to 

1  McMaster:  History  of    the  People  of  the  United  States, 
vol.  i.,  p.  186. 


228  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

those  of  a  possible  enemy.  An  army  and  a  naval 
officer  are  attached  to  the  legations  of  the  United 
States  at  the  important  European  capitals  for  the 
purpose  of  observing  and  reporting  things  that  our 
military  departments  should  know  of  new  arms  or 
construction  or  tactics. 

The  officers  of  the  Army  are  chiefly  graduates  of 

the  West  Point  Military  Academy,  though  a  door 

is  open  for  the  promotion  of  merito- 

Military  Academy.      . 

rious  soldiers  who,  as  non-commis- 
sioned officers,  have  made  a  good  record  and  have 
passed  an  examination  as  to  their  qualifications ; 
and  now  and  then,  when  there  happen  to  be  an  un- 
usual number  of  vacancies,  appointments  to  the 
grade  of  second  lieutenant  are  made  from  civil 
life.  The  graduates  of  the  Academy  are  assigned 
to  vacant  second  lieutenancies,  and,  if  there  are 
not  enough  such  vacancies,  are  borne  on  the  rolls 
as  additional  second  lieutenants  until  vacancies 
occur.  The  corps  of  cadets  at  the  Academy  is 
composed  of  one  from  each  Congressional  district, 
one  from  each  Territory,  one  from  the  District  of 
Columbia,  and  ten  from  the  United  States  at  large, 
and  all  save  these  ten  must  be  residents  of  the 
districts  or  territories  from  which  they  purport  to 
be  appointed.  They  are  all  appointed  by  the 
President,  but  those  from  the  Congressional  dis- 
tricts and  the  Territories  have  by  custom  for  many 


DEPARTMENTS   OF   WAR  AND   JUSTICE      229 

years  been  selected  by  the  representatives  and  del- 
egates in  Congress — each  naming  the  cadet  from 
his  district.  The  cadets  receive  $540  a  year. 

Our  Army  is  small,  in  fact,  and  minute,  when 
compared  with  any  of  the  armies  of  the  other  great 
Powers,  but  under  the  operation  of    m  .       it  ^ 
recent  laws  relating  to  enlistments, 
and  of  laws  intended  to  protect  the  rights  and 
promote  the  self-respect  of  the  private  soldier,  and 
to  relieve  him  from  assignments  to  menial  duties, 
the  quality  and  esprit  de  corps  of  the  enlisted  men 
are  very  high,  and  the  character  and  military  skill 
of  the  officers  are  excellent. 

There  is  little  call  upon  the  Army  now  for  war 
service.  The  Indian  wars  that  for  so  long  kept  our 
troops  constantly  on  the  alert,  and  often  in  the 
field,  seem  to  have  been  ended,  and  the  necessity 
for  maintaining  many  small  and  isolated  posts  for 
the  defence  of  the  frontier  settlements  to  have 
ceased — now  that  we  have  no  frontier.  The  policy 
of  the  War  Department  is  now  to  bring  the  com- 
panies of  each  regiment  together  in  larger  posts. 

The  use  of  the  Army — either  upon  the  call  of  a 
State  to  preserve  the  peace  of  the  State,  or  under 
the  direct  orders  of  the  President  to  Ugedto  pre8erve 
suppress  resistance  to  the  laws  of 
the  United  States  —  has  become  more  frequent 
of  late  years,  and  more  than  one  community  has 


230 

owed  its  deliverance  from  the  frenzy  of  a  mob  to 
the  presence  of  a  small  detachment  of  United 
States  troops — men  who  will  do  what  they  are 
ordered  to  do,  and  nothing  without  orders.  There 
is  no  menace  to  the  liberties  of  the  people  in  our 
little  Army,  but  its  trained  and  patriotic  officers 
may  again,  in  the  case  of  a  great  war,  as  in  1861, 
become  the  organizers  and  leaders  of  great  armies ; 
and,  with  the  little  army  of  trained  men  they  now 
command,  will,  within  the  Constitution  and  the 
laws,  during  our  longer  years  of  peace,  be  the  effi- 
cient conservators  of  public  order. 

THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  JUSTICE. 

The  Judiciary  Act  of  1789,  which  established 
and  defined  the  jurisdiction  of  the  courts  of  the 
United  States  below  the  Supreme  Court,  provided 
for  an  Attorney-General. 

The  work  of  the  office  was  for  many  years  not 
so  large  as  to  require  the  entire  time  of  the  At- 

Attorney-Gen-    torney-General.     He  did  not  always 
erai's  office.     resj^e  at  the  seat  of  Government,  and 

his  private  practice  was  not  much  interrupted  by 
his  public  duties.  His  salary  was  only  $1,500  a 
year.  William  Pinckney,  who  held  the  office 
under  President  Madison,  continued  to  reside  at 
Baltimore;  and  when  the  law  of  1814,  requiring 


DEPARTMENTS   OF   WAE   AND   JUSTICE      231 

the  Attorney-General  to  reside  at  the  seat  of  Gov- 
ernment, was  passed  he  resigned  the  office. 

The  Attorney-General  was  always  a  member  of 
the  Cabinet,  but  it  was  not  until  1870  that  the 
Department  of  Justice  was  estab-  Department  of 

.  Justice —Duties  of 

lished,  with  the  Attorney-General  as  Attorney-General, 
its  chief  officer.  The  duties  of  the  Attorney-Gen- 
eral are:  to  give  his  advice  and  opinion  upon 
questions  of  law  when  asked  by  the  President,  or 
by  the  head  of  any  other  department,  as  to  any 
question  of  law  arising  in  his  department ;  to  ex- 
amine and  report  upon  the  title  to  lands  to  be 
purchased  as  sites  for  public  buildings ;  to  conduct 
and  argue,  with  the  Solicitor-General,  all  suits, 
writs  of  errors  and  appeals  in  the  Supreme  Court 
and  the  Court  of  Claims,  in  which  the  United 
States  is  interested  ;  to  exercise  a  supervision  over 
the  United  States  attorneys  and  marshals  of  all 
the  districts  in  the  States  and  Territories,  and  to 
require  and  receive  their  reports  and  supervise 
their  accounts,  as  well  as  those  of  the  clerks  and 
other  officers  of  the  United  States  courts  ;  to  ex- 
amine and  report  to  the  President  on  all  applica- 
tions for  pardon,  and  to  send  to  Congress  annually 
a  report  of  the  business  of  the  department  for  the 
preceding  fiscal  year.  The  general  organization  of 
the  department  is :  a  Solicitor-General,  who  is  next 
in  rank  to  the  Attorney-General,  and  in  his  ab- 


232  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

sence  becomes  the  acting  head  of  the  department ; 
four  Assistant  Attorneys-General  and  ten  assistant 

organization  of  attorneys,  who  do  such  work  as  may 
Apartment.     be    assigne(j   to   them.     These   have 

their  offices  in  the  Department  of  Justice  building, 
and  act  directly  under  the  orders  of  the  Attorney- 
General.  There  are,  in  addition,  the  following  offi- 
cers belonging  to  the  Department  of  Justice,  but 
serving  in  other  departments  :  a  Solicitor  and  As- 
sistant Solicitor  of  the  Treasury,  a  Solicitor  of  Inter- 
nal Revenue,  a  Solicitor  for  the  State  Department, 
an  Assistant  Attorney-General  for  the  Post-Office 
Department,  and  one  for  the  Interior  Department. 
The  work  of  the  Department  of  Justice  is  very 
large,  very  responsible,  and  very  various.  Many 
new  law  questions  are  constantly  arising  in  the 
administration  of  public  affairs,  and  the  active 
litigation,  both  of  a  civil  and  of  a  criminal  nature, 
to  which  the  United  States  is  a  party,  is  constantly 
enlarging.  The  Court  of  Claims  hears  claims 
against  the  Government — often  involving  millions 
of  dollars — and  the  discovery  and  collection  of  the 
evidence  for  the  Government  and  the  presentation 
of  its  case  demand  laborious,  intelligent,  and  con- 
scientious work.  Great  questions,  involving  large 
amounts  of  money,  arise  under  every  new  tariff  law ; 
and  the  relations  of  the  Government  to  the  Pacific 
railways  also  give  rise  to  important  litigation. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE   POST-OFFICE   DEPARTMENT 

WHAT  ARE  POST  ROUTES — POSTMASTER-GENERAL  NOT  IN  CAB- 
INET UNTIL  1829 — MAIL  SERVICE  IN  THE  COLONIES — FRANKLIN 
POSTMASTER  AND  POSTMASTER-GENERAL—POSTAGE  BATES- 
NEWSPAPERS  IN  THE  MAILS. 

THE  Constitution  gives  to  Congress  the  power 
"  to  establish  Post-Offices  and  Post  Eoads ; "  and 
the  transportation  of  mail  matter  has  PostK)fflce8  and 
been  made   by  Congress   a   govern-      posl 
ment  monopoly.     The  carrying  of  mail  matter  by 
any  private  express  or  in  any  manner  by  stated 
trips  over  any  mail  route,  or  from  any  town  or 
place  to  any  other  town  or  place  between  which 
the  mail  is  regularly  carried,  is  made  an  offence. 
There  is  an  exception  allowed  in  the  case  of  mail 
matter    that    is   inclosed  in   stamped   envelopes, 
properly  sealed   and  addressed  —  which   may   be 
sent  by   express  or    otherwise.      Transportation 
lines   may   also    carry  letters    and   mail -packets 
relating  to  the  cargo.     The  master  of    What  m  poet 
every  vessel  arriving  is  required  be- 
fore making  entry  to  deliver  all  letters  on  board  at 

the  Post-Office.   The  statute  declares  all  the  waters 
233 


234  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

of  the  United  States,  during  the  time  the  mail  is 
carried  thereon,  all  railroads  and  canals,  and  all 
letter-carrier  routes  in  towns  and  cities  to  be 
"  post  routes." 

The  Postmaster-General  was,  in  the  beginning, 

regarded  as  a  very  unimportant  personage.    Wash- 

Postmaster-Gen-  ington  thought  the  office  too  insig- 

eral  not  in  Cabinet  ,-,i     j-i       i     11          <•  •< 

until  1829.  nincant  to  entitle  the  holder  of  it  to  a 

place  in  the  Cabinet,  and  it  was  not  until  1829 
that  the  Postmaster-General  was  given  a  seat  in 
the  Cabinet.  Keferring  to  this  low  estimation  of 
the  office  McMaster  says  : 

Yet  there  is  now  no  other  department  of  Government 
in  which  the  people  take  so  lively  an  interest  as  in  that 
over  which  the  Postmaster-General  presides.  The  num- 
ber of  men  who  care  whether  the  Indians  get  their 
blankets  and  their  rations  on  the  frontier,  whether  one 
company  or  two  are  stationed  at  Fort  Dodge,  whether 
there  is  a  fleet  of  gun-boats  in  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  is 
extremely  small.  But  the  sun  never  sets  without  mill- 
ions upon  millions  of  our  citizens  intrusting  to  the  mails 
letters  and  postal-cards,  money-orders  and  packages,  in 
the  safe  and  speedy  delivery  of  which  they  are  deeply 
concerned. 1 

It  is  essentially  a  business  department,  and  re- 
quires for  its  successful  administration  a  trained 

i  McMaster :  History  of  the  People  of  the  United  States,  yol. 
xxi.,  p.  58. 


THE   POST-OFFICE   DEPABTMENT  235 

business  man,  who  knows  the  significance  of  every 
hour  saved  in  the  transmission  of  a  letter. 

Postmaster-General  Wanamaker  expressed  the 
true  idea  of  the  service  thus  :  "  I  want  to  keep  the 
mail-bag  open  to  the  latest  possible  The  tme  ?im  of 
minute,  then  get  it  to  its  destination  the  service- 
in  the  shortest  possible  time,  and  then  get  each 
separate  piece  of  mail  to  the  person  for  whom  it  is 
meant  in  the  quickest  possible  way."  Perhaps 
more  than  any  other  of  the  executive  departments 
its  growth  measures  the  growth  of  the  country. 
Its  daily  transactions  give  us  a  pretty  sure  indica- 
tion of  the  state  of  our  commerce. 

The  Post-Office  Department  was  organized, 
under  the  Constitution,  in  1789,  and  more  per- 
manently established  and  settled  in  First  mail  ser. 
1794.  In  the  very  early  Colonial  vice' 
times  letters  went  by  the  hands  of  special  mes- 
sengers when  of  the  highest  importance,  but  usu- 
ally by  the  hands  of  casual  travellers,  or  of  ac- 
commodating captains  of  coasting  vessels.  When 
population  increased  and  commerce  could  no 
longer  depend  on  casual  opportunities,  posts  were 
established  and  riders  despatched  when  enough 
letters  to  pay  the  cost  had  been  accumulated. 
Finally  the  mother  country  introduced  a  limited 
postal  system  in  the  American  Colonies. 

The  story  of  the  origin  and  development  of  the 


236  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OUES 

postal  service  in  America  is  one  of  great  interest, 
but  cannot  be  pursued  here.    The  aid  given  by  that 
AH  unresting       service,  feeble   and  imperfect  as  it 
story.  then  was,  to  the  cause  of  independence 

and  of  the  union  of  the  States,  to  the  military 
campaigns  of  the  Revolution,  and  to  the  opening 
and  development  of  the  great  West,  was  of  the 
highest  value.  Mr.  C.  W.  Ernst,  of  Boston,  has 
contributed  some  valuable  articles  to  L'  Union  Post- 
ale  upon  this  subject,  and  from  them  some  of  the 
facts  stated  here  are  derived.  In  1692  William  and 
Royai  grant  to  Marv  granted  to  Thomas  Neale  a 
patent  to  establish  a  postal  service  in 
the  American  Colonies.  Neale  placed  Andrew 
Hamilton,  of  New  Jersey,  in  charge  of  the  business, 
and  he  established  a  post  from  Portsmouth,  N.  H., 
to  James  City,  Ya.,  in  May,  1693.  He  procured 
from  the  colonies  the  necessary  legislation,  and 
from  some  of  them  subsidies.  The  service  was 
afterward  (1710)  resumed  by  the  Crown,  and  it  is 
a  curious  fact  that  the  first  general  postal  law 
"  prohibited  political  agitation  on  the  part  of  postal 
officers."  Of  this  early  postal  service  Mr.  Ernst 
says: 

The  Postmaster- General  of  America  received  an  an- 
nual salary  of  £200,  and  whatever  he  saw  fit  to  charge 
for  the  transmission  of  newspapers.  Postmasters  re- 
ceived a  percentage  of  their  gross  receipts,  and  usually 


THE   POST-OFFICE   DEPARTMENT  237 

had  the  official  frank.     This  led  them  generally  into  the 

business  of  publishing  newspapers.    The 

Compensation  of 

inail-riders,  who  were  a  sort  of  travelling  Postmaster  -  Gen- 

eral— Newspapers. 

post-office,  treated  everything  as  a  per- 
quisite, except  the  letters  charged  to  them  by  postmasters. 

In  his  Autobiography  Franklin  says  : 

In  1737  Colonel  Spotswood,  late  Governor  of  Virginia, 
and  then  Postmaster-General,  being  dissatisfied  with  the 
conduct  of  his  deputy  at  Philadelphia, 

.     .  Franklin  Post- 

.  .  .  took  from  him  the  commission  master  at  Phiia- 
and  offered  it  to  me.  I  accepted  it 
readily,  and  found  it  of  great  advantage ;  for,  though 
the  salary  was  small,  it  facilitated  the  correspondence 
that  improved  my  newspaper,  increased  the  number 
demanded,  as  well  as  the  advertisements  to  be  inserted, 
so  that  it  came  to  afford  me  a  considerable  income. 
My  old  competitor's  newspaper  declined  proportion- 
ately, and  I  was  satisfied  without  retaliating  his  refusal, 
while  postmaster,  to  permit  my  papers  being  carried  by 
the  riders. 

The  Postal  Service  has  not  lost  the  character- 
istics revealed  by  this  early  incident ;  small  post- 
offices  and  small  newspapers  still  exhibit  an  affinity 
for  each  other,  and  the  rival  newspaper  still  com- 
plains of  injurious  discriminations.  It  was  not 
until  1782  that  newspapers  were  received  as  mail 
matter. 

In  1753  Benjamin  Franklin  and  William  Hunter 
were  appointed  Postmasters  -  General  upon  the 


238  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

terms  that  they  were  to  have  £600  a  year  between 

them  if  they  could  make  so  much  out  of  the  office. 

Franklin  and  It  seems  from  Franklin's  account  that 

Hunter   Postmas-  . 

ters-Generai.  during  the  first  tour  years  they  ex- 
pended £900  more  than  they  received.  After  that 
the  revenues  improved  and  the  office  became  a 
paying  one  and  yielded  a  not  inconsiderable  sur- 
plus to  the  Crown. 

The  first  transatlantic  mail  service  was  estab- 
lished by  the  British  Post-office  in  1755,  by  a 
First  ocean  mail  packet  from  Falmouth  to  New  York. 
Franklin  was  deprived  of  his  office  in 
1774,  and  in  December,  1775,  the  Royal  Post  in 
the  Colonies  was  abandoned,  the  Colonial  Congress 
having  in  the  previous  July  appointed  Franklin 
Postmaster-General  for  the  Colonies. 

In  Washington's  first  term  an  effort  was  made 

to  speed  the  mails — to  move  them  at  the  rate  of 

An  effort  to       one    hundred    miles   in  twenty -four 

Bpeed  the  mails.       j^^  Qr  ft  Httle  jegs  ^^   f  QUr  ftnd  ft 

half  miles  an  hour.  The  carriers  were  then  taking 
nearly  thirty  hours  between  Philadelphia  and 
New  York.  The  roads  were  bad  and  there  were 
many  slow  ferries.  What  a  contrast !  How  slow 
the  fast  things  of  our  fathers  appear  to  us.  The 
special  mail  trains  now  run  at  the  rate  of  forty  or 
fifty  miles  an  hour;  mails  are  taken  up  and  de- 
livered without  stops,  and  are  sorted  and  put  up 


THE   POST-OFFICE   DEPARTMENT  239 

in  the  postal-cars  so  as  to  go  on  their  way  without 
going  to  distributing  offices.  In  1776  there  were 
only  twenty-eight  post-offices  in  the  Colonies ;  in 
1795  there  were  four  hundred  and  fifty-three,  and 
in  May,  1897,  there  were  70,723. 

The  rates  of  postage  when  the  department  was 
organized  under  the  Constitution  were  high :  for 
thirty  miles,  six  cents  for  one  letter-    Firgt  p08tage 
sheet ;  for  sixty  miles,  eight  cents ; 
for  one  hundred  miles,  ten  cents,  and  so  increas- 
ing with  the  increased  distance  to  the  maximum, 
twenty-five  cents  for  distances  over  four  hundred 
and  fifty  miles. 

Envelopes  were  not  in  use  in  those  days,  and 
the  letters  were  so  folded  that  the  number  of  sheets 
could  be  ascertained.  Neither  were  stamps  in 
use,  nor  was  the  sender  of  a  letter  required  to  pay 
the  postage  in  advance.  The  postage,  six  cents  or 
twenty-five  cents,  as  the  case  might  be,  was  written 
by  the  postmaster  on  the  letter,  and  if  the  sender 
paid  the  postage  the  word  "  paid  "  was  added  ;  if 
he  did  not,  the  postage  was  collected  of  the  person 
to  whom  the  letter  was  addressed.  These  rates 
soon  yielded  a  surplus  over  the  cost  of  the  service, 
spite  of  the  franking  privilege  which  Not  the  policy 

to  make  net  rev- 

the  law  gave  to  congressmen  and  the     enue. 
heads  of  departments.    But  with  larger  public  rev- 
enues from  other  sources  the  policy  of  making  net 


240  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

revenues  from  the  Postal  Service  was  abandoned, 
and  for  many  years  the  policy  has  been  to  extend 
and  improve  the  service,  and  to  reduce  postal-rates, 
even  at  the  cost  of  large  annual  deficits,  to  be  made 
good  from  the  Treasury.  The  scattered  frontier 
settlements  have  been  provided  with  mail  facilities, 
even  when  the  cost  of  the  service  was  several  hun- 
dred times  more  than  the  receipts.  A  letter 
weighing  one  ounce  is  now  carried  to  any  post- 
office  in  the  United  States  for  a  uniform  rate  of 
two  cents. 

The  demand  of  the  newspapers  and  periodicals  of 
every  class  for  cheap  newspaper  postage,  seconded 

Book  and  news-    ^v  tlleir  subscribers,  has  led  to  a  re- 
paper  postage.      duction    of   rates   greatly  below  the 

actual  cost  to  the  Government.  In  his  report  for 
1892  the  Postmaster-General,  after  stating  that  the 
present  letter-rate  pays  twice  the  cost  of  the  letter- 
mail,  says  that  the  book  and  newspaper  mail  is 
carried  at  a  loss  of  six  cents  a  pound. 

If  the  book  and  newspaper  matter  paid  the 
actual  cost  of  distribution  and  the  other  depart- 
ments of  the  Government  paid  the  regular  postage 
upon  the  letters  and  other  matter  sent  by  them 
through  the  mails — which  is  now  carried  free — the 
Post-Office  Department  would  show  an  annual  sur- 
plus, instead  of  an  annual  deficit. 


CHAPTEE  XV 

THE  POST-OFFICE    DEPARTMENT   (CONTINUED) 

ORGANIZATION — FREE  DELIVERY — MONEY  ORDERS — REGISTRY  — 
STAR  ROUTES  —  OCEAN  MAIL  SERVICE  —  THE  TELEGRAPH — 
FOREIGN  MAIL. 

IN  recent  years  the  Post-Office  Department  has 
been  characterized  by  a  very  progressive  spirit, 
and  it  is  now  rendering,  not  a  perfect  service,  but  a 
high-class  service.  No  other  department  has  more 
nearly  kept  pace  with  the  marvellous  development 
of  our  country. 

Only  a  very  brief  notice  of  a  few  of  the  most  in- 
teresting subdivisions  of  its  work  is  possible  here. 

There  are  four  Assistant  Postmasters-General, 
and  to  each  of  them  is  assigned  the  supervision  of 
specified  divisions  of  the  Department.  Department  or- 
These  assignments  rest  so  largely  in 
the  discretion  of  the  Postmaster-General  and  are 
so  frequently  modified  that  a  statement  of  the  ex- 
isting classification  would  be  of  little  value.  But 
a  list  of  the  divisions,  which  are  some- 

.  The  divisions. 

what  permanent,  will  give  a  general 
view  of  the  scope  of  the  work.     They  are  :  Divis- 
ion of  Post-Office  Supplies,  Division  of  Free  Deliv- 
16  241 


242  THIS    COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

erj,  Division  of  Salaries  and  Allowances,  Division 
of  Correspondence,  of  the  Money  Order  System, 
of  the  Dead  Letter  Office,  Contract  Division,  Di- 
vision of  Railway  Adjustment,  Division  of  Inspec- 
tion, Division  of  Mail  Equipment,  Office  of  Railway 
Mail  Service,  Office  of  Foreign  Mails,  Finance  Di- 
vision, Postage-stamp  Division,  Registered  Letter 
Division,  Division  of  Files,  Mails,  etc.,  Division  of 
Mail  Classification,  Division  of  Appointments,  Di- 
vision of  Bonds  and  Commissions,  Division  of 
Post-Office  Inspectors  and  Mail  Depredations. 

There  is  a  corps  of  inspectors  under  the  chief  of 
that  division  and  their  duties  are  to  examine  the 
post-offices  as  to  their  management  and  accounts, 
to  look  into  and  report  upon  all  complaints  and 
irregularities,  and  to  pursue  and  cause  the  arrest  of 
all  violators  of  the  postal  laws. 

Mail  matter  is  divided  into  four  classes :  First, 
letters,  postal-cards,  and  all  matter  partly  or  wholly 
classification  of  in  writing;  second,  newspapers  and 
other  periodical  publications,  issued 
at  stated  intervals,  and  at  least  four  times  a  year ; 
third,  books,  transient  newspapers,  periodicals,  and 
other  printed  matter,  proof-sheets,  and  the  manu- 
script copy  of  the  same  ;  fourth,  all  other  pack- 
ages not  exceeding  four  pounds  in  weight,  ex- 
cluding, however,  anything  that  is  liable  to  injure 
other  mail  matter  or  to  harm  those  handling  the 


THE   POST-OFFICE   DEPARTMENT  243 

mails.  The  limit  of  weight  does  not  apply  to  sin- 
gle books,  or  to  Government  publications,  or  to  any 
matter  sent  by  one  of  the  Executi  ve  departments. 

The  free  collection  of  mail  matter,  several  times 
a  day,  from  deposit-boxes,  so  thickly  scattered  over 
our  cities  that  one  may  reach  them  Free  delivery  and 
in  his  slippers,  and  the  free  and  fre- 
quent delivery  of  mail  at  our  doors,  is  a  wondrous 
advance  over  the  time,  not  yet  old,  when  those 
who  spent  the  day  in  the  home  had  to  commit 
their  letters  to  the  inside  pockets  of  unofficial,  and 
often  unfaithful,  carriers,  and  those  who  worked 
in  offices  or  shops  had  to  go  or  send  messengers 
long  distances  to  deposit  and  receive  their  mail, 
and  it  may  be,  to  stand  a  half  hour  in  line  before 
a  general  delivery  window.  It  has  recently  been 
proposed,  and  the  experiment  is  being  tried,  to 
make  the  collections  from  the  mail-boxes  by  wagons 
making  continuous  instead  of  stated  rounds,  and 
provided  with  a  mail  clerk  and  appliances  for  as- 
sorting the  mail  collected,  and  sending  outgoing 
mail  matter  directly  to  the  proper  railway  station. 

The  postal  laws  punish  very  severely  any  interfer- 
ence with  the  mails  or  the  mail  carriers.  The  coat- 
less  post-boy  on  his  cart  is  the  "  King's  The  "Kings 

man"    on    the 

man,  on  the  "Kings  errand.  The  "King's errand." 
mail  packages,  when  once  deposited  in  a  post-office, 
mail-box,  or  car,  must  not  be  touched  but  by  offi- 


244  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OUES 

cial  hands,  and  these  must  not  detain  them  or 
pry  into  their  contents.  Letters  or  printed  matter 
of  an  indecent  character,  or  intended  to  defraud 
others,  and  lottery  advertisements  are  not  mail- 
able,  and  the  persons  sending  such  matter  are  lia 
ble  to  arrest. 

The  domestic  money-order  system,  now  so  fa- 
miliar to  all,  was  inaugurated  in  1864  and  has  been 

Money-order  extended  to  the  smaller  offices,  until 
there  are  now  about  twenty  thousand 
offices  where  such  orders  can  be  procured.  A  for- 
eign money-order  system  was  authorized  in  1868. 
In  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30,  1896,  the  total 
value  of  the  domestic  money-orders  issued  was 
$172,100,649.02  ;  and  of  the  foreign  money-orders 
$13,852,615.74.  These  foreign  money-orders  went 
Foreign  money-  to  thirty-three  countries.  There  are 
now  (1897)  thirty-five  countries  with 
which  "  Conventions  "  exist  for  the  transaction  of 
money-order  business.  How  neighborly  the  world 
is  coming  to  be.  A  Swede  goes  to  a  little  post- 
office  in  North  Dakota,  hands  to  the  postmaster 
$100  (the  limit)  and  takes  from  him  a  paper  that 
requests  the  postmaster  at  Malmo,  Sweden,  to  pay 
$100  to  the  mother  of  the  sender.  The  Swedish 
officer  has  received  no  money  from  the  Dakota  post- 
master, nor  has  he  any  money  of  the  United  States 
in  his  care,  but  the  order  is  promptly  paid.  Not 


THE   POST-OFFICE   DEPARTMENT  245 

these  small  officials,  but  two  great  governments, 
are  the  actors  in  this  small  but  beneficent  transac- 
tion. The  money-order  balances  are  Balance8  againfit 
largely  against  the  United  States  and 
are  settled  by  foreign  bills  of  exchange  purchased 
by  the  Post-Office  Department  —  sometimes  to 
the  amount  of  ten  millions  of  dollars  annually. 
For  some  years  the  law  authorized  the  issuing 
of  "  postal  notes."  These  were  limited  to  sums 
under  $5  and  were  payable  to  bearer.  The  law 
was  repealed  in  1894. 

Another  method  of  transmitting,  by  mail,  money, 
bonds,  or  other  articles  of  value,  is  by  Registered  ^ett/en 
the  registered  letter.      Mr.  Gushing,    -the"y8tem- 
in  "  The  Story  of  the  Post  Office,"  gives  this  de- 
scription of  the  registry  system  : 

Every  person  to  whom  the  custody  of  a  registered 
article  is  entrusted  must  make  a  record  of  it,  give  a  re- 
ceipt for  it  when  it  is  received,  and  take  a  receipt  when 
he  parts  with  it.  To  handle  each  registered  piece  sepa- 
rately would  require  a  very  large  force  of  postal  clerks, 
while  between  some  points,  no  matter  how  large  the 
force,  owing  to  the  limited  time  in  transit,  it  would  be 
impossible  to  give  and  take  the  usual  receipts  and  make 
the  necessary  record.  To  overcome  this  difficulty  the 
registered  pouch  and  inner  sack  systems  were  introduced. 
In  the  pouches  passing  between  given  points  are  placed 
all  the  registered  articles  that  would  ordinarily  pass  to 
the  office  to  which  the  pouches  are  dispatched.  These 


246  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

pouches  are  locked,  as  has  been  said,  with  rotary  or  tell- 
tale locks,  that  indicate  when  they  are  opened.  Each 
pouch  is  handled  as  a  single  registered  article  and  is  re- 
ceipted for  by  the  label  it  bears  and  the  serial  and  rotary 
numbers  of  the  lock  with  which  it  is  fastened.  It  may 
contain  fifty  or  more  articles,  but  the  postal  clerk  who 
receives  it  counts  it  as  a  single  piece.  Its  contents,  when 
enclosed,  are  first  carefully  verified  by  two  pouching 
clerks,  and  again  by  two  witnesses  when  the  pouch  is 
opened  at  its  destination.  Nothing  can  be  removed  in 
transit  without  changing  the  rotary  number  of  the  lock ; 
and  as  each  person  who  receives  the  pouch  is  obliged  to 
receipt  for  it  by  the  rotary,  as  well  as  the  serial,  num- 
ber of  the  lock,  it  can  readily  be  ascertained  who,  if  any- 
body, opens  the  pouch.  The  postal  clerks  are  not  per- 
mitted to  have  keys  to  open  the  rotary  locks  ;  these  are 
furnished  only  to  postmasters  who  exchange  registered 
pouches. 

The  United  States  does  not  indemnify  the  sender 
if  a  registered  package  is  lost.  England,  Germany, 
and  some  other  countries  do,  within  a  fixed  limit. 

The  Dead  Letter  Office,  always  an  object  of 
curious  interest  to  visitors,  collects  the  unsolved 
Dead  Letter  office,  puzzles  from  all  the  post-offices,  and 
by  hook  or  by  crook  gets  the  unclaimed  letter  to 
its  destination,  or  returns  it  to  the  sender. 

The  Eailway  Mail  Service  is  the  centre  and 
strength  of  the  whole  postal  system,  and  has 
been  brought  to  a  high  state  of  proficiency.  Each 
mail-car  is  a  post-office,  and  all  night  long  on  huii- 


THE   POST-OFFICE   DEPAKTMENT  247 

dreds  of  such  cars  faithful  men  are  separating  and 
assorting  mail  matter  in  order  to  hasten  the  deliv- 
ery of  our  letters.  The  country  is  di-  RailwayMail 
vided  into  districts,  and  a  Superintend- 
ent of  the  Railway  Mail  Service  is  assigned  to  each. 
The  railway  postal  clerks  are  under  the  civil  ser- 
vice law,  and  in  addition  to  the  entrance  examina- 
tion, are  subjected  to  frequent  further  examinations 
to  test  their  accuracy  in  mail  distribution.  Every 
error  made  in  the  distribution  of  mail  matter  is  re- 
ported, and  the  official  life  of  a  negligent  or  incom- 
petent man  is  now  very  brief. 

We  have  heard  much  about  the  "  Star  Routes," 
but  few  people  know  what  they  are,  or  why  they 
are  so  called.  They  are  the  mail 
routes — other  than  the  railroad  and 
steamboat  routes — upon  which  the  mails  are  car- 
ried by  riders,  stages,  wagons,  or  other  like  means. 
The  contracts  do  not  specify  the  particular  method 
to  be  used,  but  require  that  the  service  shall  be 
performed  with  "celerity,  certainty,  and  security." 
In  the  report  of  the  Postmaster- General  for  1896 
this  account  is  given  of  the  origin  of  the  term 
"  star  routes  :  "  "  Bids  for  such  service  were  there- 
after classified  as  '  celerity,  certainty,  and  se- 
curity '  bids,  from  the  distinguishing  words  of  the 
statute,  and  presumably  to  avoid  the  constant 
writing  out  of  these  words  in  the  books  of  this 


248  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

office,  the  clerks  of  the  contract  division  designated 
them  on  the  route  registers  by  three  stars  (*  *  *), 
and  they  became  known  as  'star  bids.'  " 

On  some  of  the  transatlantic  mail  steamers  sea 

post-offices  have  been  established.     A  postal  clerk 

sorting  mans  on  ^s  detailed  by  each  of  the  nations  be- 

tne  ocean.       tweeii  whose  ports  the  vessel  plies, 

and  these  during  the  voyage  assort  the  mail  just 

as  the  railway  mail  clerks  do.     Packages  or  pouches 

are  made  up  for  the  city  sub-stations  and  for  the 

railroad  lines.     Until   the  passage  of  the  act  of 

March  3,  1891,  the  compensation  allowed  to  Amer- 

sea  postage-The  *can  vessels  f°r  carrying  foreign  mails 

American  Line.     wag  the  gea  an(j  inland  postage  QU  the 

mail  matter  actually  carried.  By  the  Act  of  1891 
an  attempt  was  made  to  encourage  the  establish- 
ment in  the  foreign  trade  of  American  steamship 
lines  using  vessels  of  American  build,  owned  and 
officered  by  American  citizens,  and  manned  by 
crews  having  a  fixed  proportion  of  American  sea- 
men. The  vessels  are  to  be  constructed  under  the 
supervision  of  a  naval  officer,  and  to  be  adapted  to 
easy  conversion  into  armed  cruisers,  to  have  a  fixed 
speed  —  those  of  the  first  class  twenty  knots  an 
hour — and  a  designated  tonnage,  the  first  class  not 
less  than  eight  thousand  tons.  The  Government 
has  the  right  to  take  the  vessels  for  public  uses  at 
any  time  upon  paying  the  approved  value  thereof. 


THE   POST-OFFICE   DEPARTMENT  249 

The  mail  pay  is  as  follows :  to  vessels  of  the  first 
class,  not  more  than  four  dollars ;  to  those  of  the 
second  class,  not  more  than  two  dollars ;  to  those 
of  the  third  class,  not  more  than  one  dollar;  to 
those  of  the  fourth  class,  not  more  than  two-thirds 
of  a  dollar  per  mile  travelled  on  each  outward  voy- 
age. The  great  governments  of  Europe  had  long 
given  mail  or  other  subsidies  to  their  great  ocean 
steamship  lines,  and  the  United  States  had  no 
choice  but  to  follow  their  example,  or  to  remain 
content  that  no  great  ocean  steam  ship  should  carry 
our  flag.  Under  the  law  of  1891  the  American 
Line,  between  New  York  and  Southampton,  has 
been  established  and  is  inferior  to  none  of  its  great 
competitors. 

The  use  of  the  telegraph  in  the  mail  service  has 
been  proposed  by  the  department  and  by  bills 
presented  in  Congress.  The  sugges-  The  ^^^  in 
tion  does  not  necessarily  involve  gov-  the  mal1  eervlce- 
ernment  ownership  of  the  lines,  but  only  the  use  of 
the  commercial  lines  under  contracts  for  the  con- 
veying of  messages  between  post-offices,  just  as  the 
railroads  now  carry  letters.  Mr.  Ernst,  referred  to 
above,  states  that  the  first  experimental  telegraph 
line  between  Washington  and  Baltimore,  built  in 
1844  by  the  United  States  under  the  direction  of 
Morse,  was  managed  by  the  Post-Office  Depart- 
ment until  it  was  sold,  a  few  years  later. 


250  THIS   COUNTRY  OF  OURS 

The  Postmaster-General  is  authorized,  by  and 
with  the  consent  of  the  President,  to  conclude  pos- 
tal treaties  with  foreign  countries. 
Under  this  power,  in  1891,  the  United 
States  became  a  party  to  a  convention  signed  by 
the  representatives  of  over  fifty  distinct  powers, 
including  all  of  the  great  Powers  and  their  depend- 
encies, and  very  many  minor  ones,  revising  the  pre- 
vious conventions,  and  establishing,  under  the 
name  of  the  "  Universal  Postal  Union,"  a  single 
postal  territory  for  the  reciprocal  exchange  of  arti- 
cles of  correspondence  between  their  post-offices. 
A  uniform  rate  of  postage  which  can  be  prepaid  to 
destination  is  fixed,  and  every  facility  of  their  mail 
system  is  extended  by  each  country  to  the  mails  of 
all  the  others.  An  accounting  takes  place  at  stated 
intervals  to  adjust  the  balances.  The  Universal 
Postal  Union  is  not  only  a  great  agency  for  the 
promotion  of  commerce,  but  by  facilitating  the  ex- 
changes of  thought  is  a  potent  agency  in  the  pro- 
motion of  peace  and  good-will. 


CHAPTEE  XVI 
THE  NAVY  DEPARTMENT 

THB  OLD  NAVY  —  BUILDING  SHIPS  AND  MAKING  GUNS  — NAVY 
YARDS— MILITIA— APPRENTICES— DEPARTMENT  CHEATED— OR- 
GANIZATION—NAVAL  GRADES— PROMOTIONS  —  RETIREMENT- 
ENLISTED  MEN. 

THE  Navy  of  the  United  States  has  had  a  renais- 
sance, and  our  people  have  hailed  it  with  patriotic 
joy.  Before  the  time  of  steam  ocean 

.  .  The  old  navy. 

navigation  the  merchant  marine  of 
the  United  States  was  the  pride  of  the  seas,  and 
our  war  vessels  second  to  none  in  construction, 
sailing  qualities,  armament,  or  in  the  seamanship, 
dash,  and  intrepidity  of  their  commanders  and  sea- 
men. At  the  breaking  out  of  our  Civil  War  the 
navy  of  the  United  States  consisted  of  seventy-six 
vessels  of  all  classes.  To  make  our  blockades 
safe  against  the  protests  of  jealous  and  unfriendly 
European  powers  and  their  blockade  runners,  to 
chase  the  rebel  cruisers  which  England  had  wan- 
tonly or  negligently  let  loose  upon  the  seas,  to  as- 
sault rebel  harbor  forts,  and  to  open  our  great  riv- 
ers, the  United  States  was  compelled  to  construct 
large  war  fleets.  At  the  close  of  the  war  we  had 

about  six  hundred  vessels  of  all  grades. 
251 


252  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

The  monitor  type  of  war-ship  —  designed  by 
Ericsson,  and  so  speedily  tested  in  action  in  Hamp- 
ton Eoads — introduced  ideas  which  have  entered 
into  all  modern  naval  construction — iron  or  steel 
hulls,  defensive  armor  and  revolving  turrets  for  the 
main  battery.  We  built  other  monitors,  and  they 
did  good  service,  but  they  were  not  regarded  as 
safe  sea  vessels,  and  at  the  close  of  the  war  were 
generally  put  out  of  commission.  Our  wooden 
ships  were  patched  and  reconstructed  at  a  very 
great  annual  cost,  but  ship  by  ship  they  were 
stricken  from  the  register,  until  in  1892  we  had 
only  twelve  such  available  for  cruising  purposes. 

In  the  meantime  the  naval  constructors  and  gun- 
makers  of  Europe  were  working  out,  through  costly 
ship-bunding  experiments  and  many  failures,  the 
orgmg>  modern  armored  cruiser  and  battle- 
ship, and  the  modern  high-power  gun.  We  en- 
tered in  a  measure  into  their  labors  and  had  the 
profit  of  their  mistakes.  In  1883  the  foundation  of 
our  new  Navy  was  laid  by  commencing  the  build- 
ing of  four  cruisers,  of  which  the  "  Chicago  "  was 
the  most  important.  We  had  no  great  ship-yards, 
and  no  ship-builders  with  the  capital,  the  skilled 
labor,  and  the  experience  to  fit  them  to  enter  this 
new  field.  John  Roach,  however,  had  the  courage 
to  believe  that  he  could  create  a  competent  shop 
and  build  the  new  vessels.  He  put  everything  at 


THE   NAVY   DEPAKTMENT  253 

risk  and  should  have  had  better  treatment  from  the 
Government  than  he  received.  He  was  fairly  en- 
titled to  some  of  the  profits  that  have  since  accrued 
to  those  who  have  walked  in  the  path  he  blazed. 
We  have  now,  both  on  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific, 
shipyards  and  builders  capable  of  constructing 
any  ship  and  of  putting  into  her  machinery  of  the 
first  efficiency.  We  have  also  great  steel  plants, 
costing  millions  of  money  and  capable  of  making 
armor-plates  of  the  highest  resisting  power,  and 
steel  gun  forgings  of  the  finest  quality.  These 
great  ship-yards  and  steel  plants  are  convincing 
proofs  that  the  supremacy  we  once  had  in  wooden 
ship-building  may  be  attained — if  it  has  not  already 
been  attained — in  steel  ships.  I  suppose  one  of 
our  old  clipper-ship  builders  could  not  have  been 
persuaded  that  such  a  ship  as  the  "  Indiana  "  would 
float.  Paul  Jones's  construction  was  Paul  JoneB.8  bat. 
offensive,  not  defensive,  and  his  bat-  tle  plan> 
tie  plan  was  to  get  more  shot  into  his  adversary 
than  he  took  in  himself.  His  guns  had  only  a  lit- 
tle greater  range  than  his  trumpet,  and  between 
broadsides  the  contending  captains  sometimes  ex- 
changed lurid  phrases.  If  a  sail  or  a  yard  were 
shot  away  it  was  restored  under  fire  or  another 
made  to  do  its  work.  But  now  if  a  shot  gets  into 
the  engine-room  it  is  a  case  for  a  navy-yard,  with 
a  strong  probability  that  it  will  be  the  enemy's 


254  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

yard,  for  our  great  battle-ships  carry  no  sails — the 
power  is  steain  and  the  ship  is  full  of  machinery. 
And  so  armored  sides,  and  turrets  for  the  big  guns 
came  in,  and  the  contest  still  continues  between  the 
resisting  power  of  steel  plates  and  the  pounding 
and  piercing  power  of  great  guns.  The  projectiles 
have  now  a  range  greater  than  the  eye  that  trains 
the  guns,  and  a  weight  and  explosive  force  that  de- 
mand their  exclusion.  The  gun-shop 

Navy  gun-plant. 

at  the  Navy  Yard  in  Washington, 
which  has  been  built  under  the  supervision  of  na- 
val officers,  and  conducted  by  them,  is  making 
guns  that  may  safely  be  put  into  action  against 
those  of  any  navy  in  the  world.  The  Harveyized 
nickel-steel  armor-plates,  made  under  contract  with 
private  parties  for  our  ships,  are  certainly  unsur- 
passed and  probably  unequalled  by  the  product  of 
any  foreign  mills. 

Practically  all  of  this  work  has  been  done  within 
ten  years,  and  the  Secretaries  of  the  Navy  who 
Good  ships  and  have    presided  over  and  directed  it, 
corps.  the  constructors  and  ordnance  officers 

of  the  Navy  who  have  largely  furnished  the  designs, 
and  the  steel-makers  and  ship-builders  who  have 
executed  these  plans,  are  entitled  to  the  highest 
praise.  We  have  always  had  a  navy  personnel  to 
be  proud  of,  and  we  now  have  a  Navy  to  be  proud 
of — not  a  finished  Navy,  but  one  on  the  way. .  A 


THE   NAVY   DEPAETMENT  255 

new  battle-ship  is  a  new  argument  for  international 
arbitration — for  you  must  have  noticed  that  per- 
emptory demands  for  fixed  amounts  of  damages 
are  usually  made  upon  nations  that  have  no  battle- 
ships or  torpedo-boats.  It  is  not  our  purpose  to 
match  the  great  navies  of  Europe.  We  may  safely 
keep  our  register  of  vessels  well  within  theirs; 
but  we  do  not  intend  again  to  leave  the  sea. 

There  are  navy-yards  at  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  Bos- 
ton, Mass.,  New  York,  League  Island  (near  Phila- 
delphia), Washington,  D.  C.,  Norfolk, 

0  Navy-yards. 

Ya.,  Pensacola,  Fla.,  New  London, 
Conn.,  and  Mare  Island,  Cal.  Those  at  New  York 
and  Norfolk  are  equipped  for  building  modern 
vessels  of  war.  The  "  Maine  "  was  built  at  the  New 
York  yard,  and  the  "  Texas  "  at  the  Norfolk  yard. 
But  the  construction  of  ships  by  contract  with 
private  ship-yards  has  been  found  more  satis- 
factory, and  work  at  the  navy-yards  is  now  limited 
to  docking  and  repairs.  There  are  dry-docks  at 
New  York,  at  Port  Royal,  S.  C.,  at  Puget  Sound, 
and  at  Mare  Island. 

A  resolution  of  Congress  passed  in  1819  directed 
that  sailing  ships  of  the  first  class  should  be  named 
after  the  States,  those  of  the  second 

Naming  ships. 

class  after  the  rivers,   those   of  the 

third  class  after  the  chief  cities  and  towns,  and 

those  of  the  fourth  class  as  the  President  might 


256  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

direct.  A  later  law  provides  that  steamships  of 
the  first  class  shall  be  named  after  the  States, 
those  of  the  second  class  after  the  rivers  and  prin- 
cipal cities  and  towns,  and  those  of  the  third  class 
as  the  President  may  direct. 

The  naming  of  our  ships  after  the  States  and 

cities  has  done  much  to  stimulate  an  interest  in 

the  Navy  among  those  whose  inland 

Naval  militia.  J 

homes  are  beyond  the  range  of  the 
biggest  guns ;  and  the  organization  of  a  naval  mil- 
itia in  the  lake  and  seaboard  States  will  give  war 
strength  and  will  increase  the  consideration  in 
which  the  Navy  is  held. 

Old  naval  vessels  are  loaned  to  the  States  for 
the  use  of  the  naval  militia,  and  once  a  year  the 
detachments  are  taken  to  sea  for  practice  on  some 
of  the  modern  vessels. 

The  Navy  Department  was  created  April  30, 
1798.  Before  that  time  the  War  Department  had 
Department  charge  of  both  the  sea  and  the  land 
forces — as  its  name  might  imply. 
Perhaps  its  name  should  have  been  changed  to 
the  "  Army  Department  "  when  the  Navy  Depart- 
ment was  created.  "The  Secretary  of  the  Navy 
shall  execute  such  orders  as  he  shall  receive  from 
the  President  relative  to  the  procurement  of  naval 
stores  and  materials,  and  the  construction,  arma- 
ment, equipment  and  employment  of  vessels  of 


THE   NAVY    DEPARTMENT  257 

war,  as  well  as  all  other  matters  connected  with 
the  naval  establishment."     So  the  law  runs. 

There  is  an  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
and  the  department  is  divided  into  eight  bureaus, 
viz. :  Yards  and  Docks,  Equipment 

Organization. 

and  Recruiting,  Navigation,  Ord- 
nance, Construction  and  Repair,  Steam  Engineer- 
ing, Supplies  and  Accounts,  and  Medicine  and 
Surgery.  The  heads  of  these  bureaus  are  naval 
officers.  They  are  appointed  by  the  President 
from  certain  naval  grades  prescribed  by  law,  must 
be  confirmed  by  the  Senate,  and  have,  while  acting 
as  such,  the  relative  rank  of  commodore.  The 
names  of  these  bureaus  sufficiently  indicate  the 
lines  upon  which  the  work  of  the  department  is 
divided.  Since  the  building  of  new  ships  was 
begun  the  Secretaries  of  the  Navy  have  had  great 
labor  and  great  responsibility  imposed  upon  them, 
and  these  have  been  farther  increased  by  the  re- 
cent complications  in  our  foreign  affairs.  War- 
ships re-inforce  diplomatic  demands  and  protests, 
and  naval  orders  have  a  close  relation  to  diplo- 
matic forecasts.  As  a  consequence  the  relations 
between  the  Secretaries  of  State  and  of  the  Navy 
are  peculiarly  close  and  confidential. 

The  grades  in  the  line  of  the  Navy  are  these : 
Rear     admirals,     commodores,     captains,     com- 
manders, lieutenant-commanders,  lieutenants,  lieu- 
17 


258  THIS   COUNTRY   OF  OURS 

tenants,  junior  grade,  ensigns,  and  naval  cadets. 
The  grades  of  admiral  and  vice-admiral,  correspond- 
Navai  grades-  in§  to  tbe  army  grades  of  general  and 

lieutenant  -  general,  are  not  perma- 
nently maintained.  These  grades  were  created  by 
law  in  recognition  of  very  distinguished  services  in 
the  Civil  War,  and  after  the  officers  for  whom 
these  honors  were  intended  had  been  appointed, 
further  appointments  to  these  grades  were  prohib- 
ited. There  have  been  but  two  admirals  on  our 
navy-rosters,  viz.  :  Farragut  and  Porter ;  and  but 
three  vice-admirals,  viz. :  Farragut,  Porter,  and 
Rowan. 

The  naval  staff  consists  of  the  following  grades  : 
In  the  Medical  Corps — medical  directors,  medical 

inspectors,    surgeons,  passed   assist- 

The  staff.  .  * 

ant  surgeons,  and  assistant  surgeons ; 
in  the  Pay  Corps — pay  directors,  pay  inspectors, 
paymasters,  passed  assistant  paymasters  and  assist- 
ant paymasters  ;  in  the  Engineer  Corps — chief  en- 
gineers, passed  assistant  engineers,  and  assistant 
engineers.  There  are  also  naval  constructors, 
assistant  naval  constructors,  chaplains,  professors 
of  mathematics,  and  civil  engineers  on  the  Navy 
Eegister.  The  warrant  officers  "are  boatswains, 
gunners,  carpenters,  sailmakers,  and  mates.  They 
are  appointed  by  the  President. 

Promotions  in  the  Navy  are  by  seniority  in  all 


THE   NAVY   DEPARTMENT  259 

grades,  but  before  any  officer    can  be  promoted 
from  one  grade  to  another  he  must 

. .  ,  .  .    ,        Promotions. 

pass  an  examination  as  to  his  mental, 

moral,  physical,  and  professional  fitness  for  service 

in  the  higher  grade. 

The  law  retires  all  officers  of  the  Navy  when 
they  reach  the  age  of  sixty-two  years,  or  upon 
their  own  application  after  forty 

,  Retirement. 

years  service.  In  the  Army  the  age 
limit  is  sixty-four.  If  retired  upon  reaching  the 
age  limit,  or  for  injuries  or  disability  incurred  in 
the  line  of  duty,  the  officer  receives  seventy-five 
per  centum  of  the  sea-pay  of  the  grade  held  by  him 
at  the  time  of  retirement.  Disabled  officers  may 
be  retired  upon  a  medical  examination.  A  retired 
officer  is  still  carried  on  the  Navy  Kegister,  and 
may  be  called  upon  for  duty  if  occasion  requires. 

The  enlisted  men  of  the  Navy  are  classed  as  petty 
officers,  seamen,  ordinary  seamen,  landsmen,  ap- 
prentices, and  firemen.  The  total  Emi8ted  menj 
number  of  enlisted  men,  as  fixed  by  Dumber  of.  ' 
the  law  of  1893,  was  nine  thousand ;  but  in  1895 
the  enlistment  of  an  additional  one  thousand  was 
authorized.  A  full  crew  for  such  a  vessel  as  the 
"Indiana"  or  the  "New  York"  would  number, 
officers  and  men,  about  five  hundred. 

A  large  number  of  boys  are  enlisted  in  the  Navy 
as  apprentices.  They  are  instructed  in  school- 


260  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

ships,  not  only  in  seamanship,  but  in  the  usual 

elementary  school  work,  and  are  now  beginning 

to  supply  the  demand  for  American 

Apprentices.  . 

crews  for  our  war-ships.  Special  fa- 
vors are  shown  them  in  the  selection  of  warrant 
officers. 


CHAPTER  XVII 


MARINE  CORPS — DUTIES  OF  REVENUE  MAKINE — HYDROGRAPHIC 
OFFICE — NAVAL  ACADEMY — APPOINTMENT  OF  CADETS — AS- 
SIGNMENT OF  GRADUATES — NAVAL  WAR  COLLEGE — TORPEDO 
STATION — PRIZES  AND  PRIZE  MONEY. 

THE  Marine  Corps  is  an  amphibious  organ- 
ization— a  connecting  link  between  the  Army  and 
Navy ;  though  in  its  organization  the 

vi  J        •  AT  Marine  Corps. 

army  likeness  predominates.  Ma- 
rines are  of  very  ancient  use  in  naval  warfare. 
They  were  at  the  beginning  the  armed  men  of  the 
crew,  the  sailors  attending  chiefly  to  the  move- 
ments of  the  ship.  But  now  the  sailors  man  the 
guns  and  use  the  cutlass  and  the  rifle.  The  Ma- 
rine Detachment,  or  guard,  as  it  is  called,  on  one 
of  our  first-class  ships  usually  numbers  from 
sixty-five  to  eighty-five  men;  while  the  crew 
proper — sailors,  landsmen,  and  apprentices — num- 
bers from  four  to  five  hundred  men. 

The  Marine  Corps  was  organized  under  a  res- 
olution of  Congress  in  1775 — two  battalions  being 
provided  for — and  was  reorganized  in  1798.     The 
second  lieutenants  of  the  corps  are  now  appointed 
261 


262  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OUES 

from  the  graduates  of  the  Naval  Academy.  The 
corps  consists  of  twenty  -five  hundred  privates  and 
over  ^ve  hundred  non-commissioned 


or  anized  in 

officers    and    musicians.     The    com- 

missioned officers  of  the  corps  are  one  commandant, 
with  the  rank  of  colonel,  one  colonel,  two  lieutenant- 
colonels,  four  majors,  one  adjutant  and  inspector, 
one  paymaster,  one  quartermaster  with  the  rank 
of  major,  two  assistant  quartermas- 

Officers  of  corps.  . 

ters  with  the  rank  of  captain,  twen- 
ty captains,  thirty  first  lieutenants,  and  thirteen 
second  lieutenants.  The  corps  is  not  divided 
by  law  into  companies  or  regiments,  but  may  be 
divided  into  companies  or  detachments  by  the 
President  with  a  proper  assignment  of  officers,  and 
may  be  used  in  any  shore  duty  to  which  the  Presi- 

dent may  assign  it.  It  is  a  useful  naval 

Duties  of  corps. 

adjunct,  though  many  naval  officers 
think  that  the  marines  should  not  be  assigned  to 
duty  on  board  ship.  On  shore  they  do  guard  duty 
at  the  navy-yards,  and  while  on  ship-board  they 
perform  guard  and  police  duties  principally.  They 
are  armed  with  rifles,  and  the  drill  is  generally 
that  of  the  Army,  though  they  are  also  drilled  at 
the  ship's  battery.  They  are  the  ship's  sharp- 
shooters. No  officer  of  the  Marine  Corps  can 
take  command  of  a  navy-yard  or  of  a  ship. 

The  Marine  Band  which    is  stationed   at   the 


THE   NAVY   DEPARTMENT  263 

Navy  Yard  at  Washington  is  composed  of  non- 
commissioned officers,  musicians,  and 

.  Marine  Band. 

privates  of   the   Marine    Corps,  and 
each  receives  a  small  additional  monthly  allow- 
ance. 

The  Treasury  Department  has  now  quite  a  fleet 
of  small  but  very  stanch  vessels  organized  to  assist 
in  the  collection  of  the  customs  duties, 

,,,,.,'      Revenue  Marine. 

to  aid  vessels  in  distress,  and  the  like. 
These  vessels  may,  by  order  of  the  President,  at 
any  time  be  ordered  to  co-operate  with  the  Navy.  In 
addition  to  the  regular  United  States  flag  borne  at 
the  peak,  they  carry,  as  a  special  designation  of 
the  character  of  the  vessels,  another  flag,  the  stripes 
of  which  run  vertically  instead  of  horizontally. 
Formerlv  their  officers  were  selected 

,  ..,,.„,,  .    .          .  Officers  of. 

from  civil  lite,  but  provision  is  now 

made  by  which  naval  cadets  may  be  appointed  to 

third  lieutenancies  in  the  service. 

There  is  a  hydrographic  office  in  the  Navy  De- 
partment for  the  preparation  and  publication  of 
mariners'   charts   and   sailing   direc-      Hydrographic 
tions.    These  are  supplied  to  Govern- 
ment vessels  and  sold  to  others  who  desire  them. 

The  Naval  Observatory  is  also  under  the  direction 
of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy.  It  is  modelled  after 
the  Greenwich  Observatory  in  England,  and  its 
work  relates  chiefly  to  navigation.  The  Ephemeris 


264  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

and  Nautical  Almanac  are  compiled  and  published 
by  a  naval  officer  or  a  professor  of  mathematics. 

The  Naval  Academy  at  Annapolis  is  also  under 
the  direction  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy.   It  had 

The  Naval  Acad-  its  origin>  not  iu  anJ  specific  appro- 
priation by  Congress,  but  in  Navy 
Department  orders,  issued  by  George  Bancroft, 
Secretary  of  the  Navy  under  President  Polk.  Using 
the  general  appropriations  for  the  naval  service  to 
defray  the  cost,  and  an  old  military  post  at  Annap- 
olis for  headquarters,  he  assembled  the  midship- 
men who  were  not  at  sea,  and  instituted  a  school. 
Congress  responded  to  his  request  for  further  ap- 
propriations, and  the  Naval  Academy  was  soon 
upon  an  assured  basis.  The  law  provides  for  the 
Appointment  of  appointment  of  one  naval  cadet  from 
each  Congressional  district,  one  from 
each  Territory,  one  from  the  District  of  Columbia, 
and  ten  at  large.  Those  from  the  Congressional 
districts  and  from  the  Territories  are  appointed  as 
vacancies  occur  upon  the  recommendation  of  the 
Eepresentatives  or  delegates,  if  such  a  recom- 
mendation is  made  before  July  1st ;  and  if  no 
recommendation  is  made  to  fill  a  vacancy  from  a 
district  or  Territory  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy 
makes  the  nomination,  but  the  person  selected 
must  reside  in  the  district  to  which  the  vacancy 
appertains.  The  appointments  at  large  and  from 


THE  NAVY   DEPARTMENT  265 

the  District  of  Columbia  are  made  by  the  Presi- 
dent, the  former  without  reference  to  locality,  but 
usually  from  among  the  descendants 

£  a*  iTTi  Cadets  at  large. 

oi  army  or  navy   officers.     When  a 
class  at  the  Academy  begins  its  fourth  year  it  is 
separated  into  two  divisions,  according  to  the  apti- 
tudes of  the  cadets,  and  in  the  proportion  of  the 
vacancies  during  the  preceding  year  in  the  lowest 
grades  of  the  line  of  the  Navy  and  Marine  Corps 
and  of  the  Corps  of  Engineers  respectively.     After 
the  separation  is  made,  the  course  of  study  of  each 
division  is  specially  adapted  to  preparing  the  cadets 
for  the  duties  they  are  expected  to  assume  upon 
graduation.     When  a  class  is  grad-     A88ignment  of 
uated  the  cadets  are  assigned  in  the       gradu 
order  of  their  academic  standing,  to  the  existing  va- 
cancies in  the  lowest  grades  of  the  line  of  the  Navy 
and  Marine  Corps  and  of  the  Corps  of  Engineers. 

A  Naval  War  College  and  a  torpedo  station  are 
maintained  on  islands  in  Newport  (R.  I.)  Harbor. 
Officers  of  any  grade,  below  that  of  Naval  war  coi- 

lege   and   torpedo 

commodore,  may  be  ordered  to  either  station. 
of  these  schools  for  instruction.  The  schools  are 
distinct,  but  are  both  under  the  command  of  the 
President  of  the  War  College.  At  the  torpedo 
station  instruction  is  given  in  the  construction  and 
use  of  torpedoes,  and  at  the  War  College  in  naval 
tactics  and  war  problems  generally. 


266  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

A  discussion  of  the  naval  service  would  not  be 
complete  without  some  reference  to  prize  money. 

Prizes  and  prize     In  time  °f   War»  when  a  VeSSel   °f   the 

enemy,  or  a  vessel  liable  to  capture 
for  carrying  contraband  goods,  or  running  a  block- 
ade, is  captured  by  one  or  more  of  our  armed 
vessels,  the  captured  vessel  is  sent  to  a  convenient 
port  and  the  question  is  tried  in  a  prize  court 
whether  it  is  a  lawful  prize.  If  the  vessel  is  con- 
demned, it  is  sold — if  not  taken  by  the  Government ; 
and  if  taken  by  the  Government,  an  appraised 
value  is  paid  into  the  court.  Vessels  that  are 
within  signal  distance  of  the  vessel  making  the 
capture,  and  in  a  condition  to  render  effective  aid, 
are  entitled  to  share  in  the  prize  money.  When 
the  prize  vessel  is  of  superior  or  equal  force  to  the 
naval  vessel  or  vessels  making  the  capture,  the  en- 
tire net  proceeds  go  to  the  captors.  If  the  prize 
is  of  inferior  force,  one-half  of  the  proceeds  goes 
to  the  United  States — except  that  in  case  of  pri- 
vateers and  letters  of  marque,  the  whole  proceeds 
go  to  the  captors,  unless  the  commission  of  the 
captor  provides  otherwise.  The  prize  money  due 
to  the  vessel  or  vessels  is  distributed  on  a  scale 
prescribed  by  the  statute.  The  admiral,  division 
commanders,  fleet  captain,  and  the  commanders  of 
vessels  take  certain  liberal  fractions,  and  the  resi- 
due is  distributed  among  all  others  doing  duty  on 


THE  NAVY   DEPARTMENT  207 

board  and  borne  on  the  ship's  books,  in  proportion 
to  the  rate  of  service  pay  of  each.  Property  taken 
on  the  inland  waters  of  the  United  States  is  not  re- 
garded as  maritime  prize.  In  1862  it  was  enacted 
that  all  money  accrued  or  accruing  to  the  United 
States  from  the  sale  of  prizes  should  remain  for- 
ever a  fund  for  the  payment  of  naval  pensions. 


CHAPTEE  XVIII 

THE   DEPARTMENTS    OF  THE    INTERIOR  AND 
OF    AGRICULTURE 

DEPARTMENT  OF  INTERIOR  ESTABLISHED  1849 — VARIETY  AND  IM- 
PORTANCE OF  WORK — THE  PUBLIC  LANDS — How  ACQUIRED, 
SURVEYED,  AND  SOLD — HOMESTEAD  LAW — MINES  AND  MINER'S 
LAW — CENSUS  OF  POPULATION,  WEALTH,  AND  INDUSTRY — THE 
INDIANS  —  No  MORE  TREATIES  —  LANDS  IN  SEVERALTY — 
SCHOOLS — INDIAN  TERRITORY — PENSIONS — PATENTS — EDUCA- 
TION—GEOLOGICAL SURVEY  —  AGRICULTURAL  DEPARTMENT 
CREATED  IN  1863— MADE  AN  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT  IN  1889 
—ORGANIZATION— WORK  OF. 

THE  Department  of  the  Interior  was  established 

by  the  law  of  March  3,  1849.    The  duties  assigned 

by  this  law  to  the  Secretary  were : 

Department    es-       " 

subbjecte8dincto|e  tne  supervision  of  the  General  Land 
Office — until  then  under  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury  ;  of  the  Patent  Office  ;  of  the 
accounts  of  the  marshals  and  other  officers  of  the 
courts  of  the  United  States  ;  of  the  office  of  Indian 
Affairs ;  of  the  Pension  Bureau ;  of  lead  and  other 
mines ;  of  the  public  buildings,  and  of  the  peniten- 
tiary of  the  District  of  Columbia.  The  Secretary 
is  now  charged  with  these  further  duties :  the  cus- 
tody and  distribution  of  public  documents ;  the 
supervision  of  the  Architect  of  the  Capitol ;  of  the 
268 


INTERIOR   AND   AGRICULTURE  269 

Bureau  of  Education ;  of  the  Geological  Survey ;  of 
the  land  grant  railroads ;  of  the  Territories ;  of  the 
Yellowstone,  Hot  Springs,  and  other  parks  and 
reservations ;  of  the  Hospital  for  the  Insane,  and 
the  Asylum  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  in  the  District 
of  Columbia.  The  supervision  of  the  officers  of 
the  United  States  courts  and  of  the  penitentiary 
has  since  been  transferred  to  the  Department  of 
Justice,  and  that  of  public  buildings  to  the  Treas- 
ury Department. 

The  Interior  Department  is  now,  in  the  variety 
and  importance  of  the  business  committed  to  it, 
one  of  the  greatest  of  the  executive  Variety  and  im_ 
departments.  Perhaps  no  one  of  the  portance  of 
secretaries,  unless  it  be  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  is  so  pressed  and  cumbered  with  busi- 
ness as  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior.  His  work  is 
not  single,  as  in  most  of  the  departments,  but  di- 
verse and  multifarious;  and  only  a  strong  and 
versatile  man  can  conduct  it  successfully.  The 
Secretary  must  pass  finally  in  the  department 
upon  questions  of  patent  law,  pension  law,  land 
law,  mining  law,  the  construction  of  Indian  trea- 
ties, and  many  other  questions  calling  for  legal 
knowledge,  if  the  judgment  of  the  Secretary  is  to 
be  of  any  value.  There  is  an  assistant  attorney- 
general  assigned  to  the  department,  and  the  Sec- 
retary may  call  upon  the  Attorney-General  for  his 


270  THIS   COUNTRY    OF   OURS 

opinion  upon  important  matters,  but  there  is  hardly 
an  hour  in  the  day  that  does  not  present  some  legal 
question,  and  very  often  the  Secretary  must  sit  as 
an  appellate  judge,  hear  arguments  and  render  de- 
cisions. 

The  control  of  the  public  lands  was,  in  the  early 

days  when  "  Uncle  Sam's  farm  "  covered  practically 

all  the  lands  save  those  embraced  in 

The  public  lands.     .,        .  -.  f     . ,  .    .       ,     . ,  . 

the  boundaries  of  the  original  thir- 
teen States,  a  great  and  laborious  trust.  The  orig- 
inal States  succeeded  to  the  vacant  and  unappro- 
priated Crown  lands  within  their  respective  boun- 
daries, but  finally  ceded  to  the  United  States,  for 
the  common  benefit,  the  great  West,  which  the 
vague  and  conflicting  boundaries  of  some  of  their 
charters  seemed  to  include.  Kentucky  was  or- 
ganized out  of  territory  claimed  by  Virginia  ;  Maine 
out  of  territory  claimed  by  Massachusetts,  and 
Vermont  out  of  territory  claimed  by  both  New 
York  and  New  Hampshire ;  so  that  in  these  three 
States,  as  in  the  original  thirteen,  the  United 
States  acquired  no  public  lands.  The  entire  area 
of  Tennessee  was  public  domain,  being  part  of  the 
territory  south  of  the  Ohio  ceded  by  North  Caro- 
lina to  the  United  States,  but  all  of  the  lands 
therein,  save  certain  lands  reserved  by  the  deed  of 
cession,  were  given  to  the  State.  Texas  was  an 
independent  Republic  before  it  became  by  treaty 


INTERIOR    AND   AGRICULTURE  271 

a  State  of  the  Union,  and  by  the  treaty  (1845)  the 
public  lands  were  reserved  to  the  State.  All  of 
the  other  States  were  public  land  States,  in  the 
sense  that  they  contained  public  lands ;  but  in 
some  of  them,  especially  in  those  organized  out  of 
territory  derived  from  Mexico,  there  were  antece- 
dent grants  of  large  tracts  to  individuals  whose 
titles  were  established  by  the  treaties. 

The  title  of  the  United  States  to  this  vast  do- 
main was  acquired  by  cessions  from  certain  of  the 
original  States,  as  to  the  lands  in  the 
States  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois, 
Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  Tennessee,  and  parts  of 
Minnesota,  Alabama,  and  Mississippi;  by  purchase 
from  France  (1803)  as  to  those  of  Louisiana,  Ar- 
kansas, Kansas  (except  the  southwest  corner), 
Missouri,  Iowa,  Nebraska,  Oregon,  North  and 
South  Dakota,  Montana,  Idaho,  Washington,  and 
Indian  Territory,  and  those  portions  of  Alabama 
and  Mississippi  south  of  the  thirty-first  parallel, 
Minnesota  (west  of  the  Mississippi  River),  and  parts 
of  Colorado  and  Wyoming ;  by  purchase  from  Spain 
as  to  those  of  Florida ;  by  conquest  from  Mexico 
(Treaty  of  Guadaloupe  Hidalgo,  1848),  subject  to 
many  Spanish  and  Mexican  grants,  as  to  the  terri- 
tory now  embraced  in  the  States  of  California, 
Nevada,  Utah,  and  parts  of  Arizona,  New  Mexico, 
and  Colorado — aggregating  522,568  square  miles  ; 


272  THIS   COUNTRY    OF   OURS 

by  purchase  from  Texas  (1850)  as  to  some  lands  now 
included  in  Wyoming,  Kansas,  Colorado,  and  New 
Mexico,  and  in  the  public  land  strip  north  of  the 
"  Pan  Handle  "  of  Texas ;  by  purchase  from  Mexico 
(Gadsden  Treaty,  1853)  as  to  some  of  the  lands 
now  included  in  Arizona  and  New  Mexico,  and  by 
purchase  from  Kussia  (1867)  as  to  the  lands  in 
Alaska.  So  that,  first  and  last,  the  United  States 
has  owned  in  fee  simple  about  2,889,175  square 
miles  of  land,  or  about  1,849,072,587  acres ;  has 
sold  or  given  away  over  a  billion  acres,  and  now 
has  about  five  hundred  million  acres  left.  Very 
little  of  the  unappropriated  public  land  is  adapted 
to  crop  raising  without  irrigation. 

The  General  Land  Office  was  created  in  1812, 
under  a  commissioner,  as  a  bureau  in  the  Treas- 
The  General  Land  urv  Department.  Before  that  time 
the  sales  of  lands  had  been  in  the 
immediate  charge  of  the  secretary  of  that  depart- 
ment, but  afterward  he  had  a  supervising  control 
only,  until  the  Land  Office  was  (1849)  transferred 
to  the  Interior  Department. 

Some  land  warrants,  which  could  be  located  on 
the  public  lands,  were  given  to  soldiers,  and  large 

grants  were  made  to  aid  the  construe- 
Early  land  sales.      . 

tion  01  railroads  and  ior  public  uses 

in  the  States  ;  but  up  to  the  passage  of  the  Home- 
stead Law,  in  1862,  the  general  policy  of  the  Gov- 


INTERIOR   AND    AGRICULTURE  273 

ernment  was  to  sell  the  public  lands,  and  for  many 
years  this  was  an  important  source  of  revenue. 
At  the  beginning  the  sales  were  in  large  tracts,  and 
chiefly  to  speculators,  who  re-sold  them  in  smaller 
parcels.  The  grant  to  the  Ohio  Company,  in  1787, 
contained  822,900  acres,  and  that  to  John  Cleves 
Symmes,  in  the  same  year,  was  estimated  to  con- 
tain one  million  acres,  but,  in  fact,  contained  much 
less.  The  grants  of  these  tracts  reserved  certain 
sections  in  each  township,  and  in  1787  Congress 
appropriated  one  of  these  reserved  sections  in  each 
township  "  for  the  purposes  of  religion."  These 
sections  in  the  Syinmes  purchase  were  leased  (in 
perpetuity,  I  think),  and  to  this  day  a  revenue, 
small  in  amount,  is  distributed  to  the  churches  in 
proportion  to  their  membership.  A  better  system 
of  selling  directly  to  the  settler  in  small  tracts  was 
afterward  adopted. 

The  rectangular  system  of  land  surveys  was 
adopted  in  1785,  having  been  suggested  "by  a  Com- 
mittee of  Congress,  of  which  Thomas 

Surveys. 

Jefferson  was  chairman.  The  lands 
before  sale  are  surveyed  by  Government  surveyors 
on  this  general  plan  :  Meridian  lines  are  run  from 
established  base  lines,  and  townships,  each  six  miles 
square,  are  run  out  and  numbered,  counting  north 
and  south,  from  the  base  line,  and  the  ranges  of 
townships  are  numbered  east  and  west  of  the  prin- 
18 


274  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

cipal  meridian.  The  toAvnships  are  each  divided 
into  thirty-six  sections  of  six  hundred  and  forty 
acres  each,  numbered  from  one  to  thirty-six  inclu- 
sive. These  sections  are  again  divided  into  half 
and  quarter  sections.  Careful  maps  of  these  sur- 
veys are  made  and  filed  in  the  Land  Office,  the 
corners  being  marked  on  the  ground  by  suitable 
monuments.  The  grants  to  the  railroads  were  gen- 
erally of  alternate  sections,  within  a  prescribed  dis- 
tance of  the  line  of  the  road,  and  the  price  of  the 
retained  sections  was  doubled — made  $2.50  per 
acre. 

In  1862  the  policy  of  giving  to  actual  settlers 

thereon  a  quarter  section  (one  hundred  and  sixty 

acres)  of  the  public  land,  where  the 

Homestead  Law. 

lands  were  rated  at  jpl.lao  per  acre,  or 
eighty  acres,  where  the  lands  were  rated  at  $2.50 
per  acre,  was  adopted  by  Congress.  The  settler  is 
required  to  make  affidavit  that  the  land  is  entered 
for  his  own  use  as  a  homestead,  and  the  patent  does 
not  issue  to  him  until  he  has  resided  upon  and  cul- 
tivated the  land  for  five  years.  In  the  case  of 
soldiers  and  sailors  the  time  served  in  the  army 
or  navy,  and  in  the  case  of  those  discharged  for 
Avounds  or  disability  the  whole  term  of  enlistment, 
may  be  deducted  from  the  five  years'  residence  re- 
quired, but  at  least  one  year's  residence  is  required 
in  such  cases.  The  Homestead  law  was  a  wise  and 


INTERIOR  AND   AGRICULTURE  275 

beneficent  statute,  and  if  it  had  come  twenty  years 
before  would  probably  have  settled  the  question  of 
the  extension  of  slavery  without  any  further  help 
from  our  statesmen. 

As  the  public  domain  was  acquired  and  settlers 
took  possession  of  the  lands,  it  became  necessary 
to  pnovide  some  form  of  government.  Ordinance  of 
The  Ordinance  of  1787,  enacted  by 
the  Congress  of  the  Confederation  "for  the  govern- 
ment of  the  territory  of  the  United  States  north- 
west of  the  river  Ohio,"  was  a  noble  as  well  as  a 
notable  act  of  legislation.  The  whole  of  that  vast 
territory  was  made  one  "  district."  A  governor,  a 
secretary,  and  three  judges  were  provided.  The 
governor  and  judges  were  given  power  to  adopt 
and  publish  in  the  district  such  laws  of  the  original 
States  as  they  might  think  best  suited  to  the  dis- 
trict, which  were  to  be  in  force  until  disapproved 
by  Congress.  When  there  were  5,000  male  in- 
habitants of  full  age  the  election  of  a  territorial 
legislature  was  provided  for,  to  consist  of  the 
governor  and  legislative  council  and  a  house  of 
representatives.  A  delegate  to  Congress  was  also 
to  be  elected.  There  followed  a  declaration  of 
certain  great  principles  which  it  was  The  unalterable 
declared  should  be  "  considered  as  ar-  comPact 
tides  of  compact,  between  the  original  States  and 
the  people  and  States  in  the  said  territory,  and  for- 


276  THIS   COUNTRY    OF   OUKS 

ever  remain  unalterable,  unless  by  common  con- 
sent." Religious  freedom,  the  habeas  corpus,  the 
right  of  representation,  the  trial  by  jury,  the  free 
navigation  of  the  great  rivers,  were  forever  guar- 
anteed to  the  people  who  were  to  find  homes  in 
this  vast  and  fertile  region.  And  by  the  sixth 
article  slavery  was  forever  excluded  from  the 
States,  "  not  less  than  three  nor  more  than  five," 
to  be  formed  out  of  the  territory. 

The  Constitution  contains  this  provision  as  to 
new  States:  "New  States  may  be  admitted  by 

Admission  of     ^ie  Congress  into  this  Union  ;  but  no 

new  States.        Qew  g^  ^jj  be   formed  or  greeted 

within  the  jurisdiction  of  any  other  State  ;  nor  any 
State  be  formed  by  the  junction  of  two  or  more 
States,  or  parts  of  States,  without  the  consent  of 
the  legislatures  of  the  States  concerned  as  well 
as  of  the  Congress."  As  convenient  and  suitable 
portions  of  the  Northwest  Territory  became  suffi- 
ciently populous  they  were  separated  and  formed 
into  States.  In  dealing  with  other  great  sections 
of  the  public  domain,  the  general  course  has  been 
to  organize  territorial  governments,  with  a  governor, 
secretary,  and  certain  judges  appointed  by  the 
President.  The  legislature,  a  territorial  judiciary, 
and  the  other  administrative  officers  are  selected 
by  the  people.  The  power  of  Congress  to  legislate 
for  the  territories  is  plenary,  and  all  territorial 


INTERIOR   AND   AGRICULTURE  277 

laws  are  subject  to  be  annulled  by  Congress.  The 
process  of  admitting  a  State  has  not  been  uniform, 
but  in  many  cases  there  has  been  an 
act  of  Congress,  called  an  enabling  act, 
authorizing  the  calling  of  a  constitutional  conven- 
tion, prescribing  the  steps  to  be  taken  by  the 
people  and  defining  the  boundaries  of  the  new 
State.  In  some  cases  the  acts  required  the  con- 
stitution adopted  to  be  submitted  to  Congress  for 
its  approval ;  and  in  others  compliance  with  the 
prescribed  terms  was  to  be  evidenced  by  a  procla- 
mation of  the  President.  In  other  cases  there  has 
been  no  enabling  act,  the  initiative  being  taken  by 
the  territorial  legislature.  In  these  cases  the  con- 
stitution adopted  has  been  presented  to  Congress 
for  its  approval.  Out  of  this  habit  of  dealing  with 
the  public  domain  has  come  the  common  thought 
that  all  territory  that  we  acquire  must,  when  suffi- 
ciently populous,  be  erected  into  States.  But  why 
may  we  not  take  account  of  the  quality  of  the 
people  as  well  as  of  their  numbers,  if  future  acqui- 
sitions should  make  it  proper  to  do  so  ?  A  terri- 
torial form  of  government  is  not  so  inadequate 
that  it  might  not  serve  for  an  indefinite  time. 

The  discovery  of  gold  in  California,  and  later  in 
others  of  the  States,  upon  the  public  lands,  called 
for  a  modification  of  the  land  laws,  which  had 
been  framed  for  the  sale  of  agricultural  lands.  The 


278  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

earliest  mining  laws  were  enacted,  not  by  Congress, 
but  by  the  miners  themselves  in  the  mining  dis- 

Mines  and  miners'    tricts«       Xt  is  a  CUrioUS   fact   that  from 

1849  to  1866,  the  period  of  the  great- 
est development  in  the  mining  of  the  precious 
metals,  there  was  no  law  of  the  United  States  regu- 
lating the  subject.  The  prospectors  roamed  over 
the  public  lands,  located  placer  or  quartz  mines, 
and  took  out  a  fabulous  store  of  the  precious 
metals,  without  any  title  whatever  to  the  lands 
from  which  they  dug  them.  They  were  in  a  strict 
sense  trespassers.  A  policy  to  reserve  mineral 
lands  from  sale  under  the  general  land  laws  had 
prevailed  for  many  years,  and  had  been  expressed 
in  suitable  laws,  but  no  provision  had  been  made 
for  the  sale  of  such  lands.  In  the  land  grants  to 
the  Pacific  railroad  companies  it  was  provided  that 
mineral  lands  should  not  pass  under  the  grants. 
The  river-beds,  gulches,  and  mountain-sides  were 
prospected  by  men  who  earned  picks  and  basins 
in  their  hands,  and  a  brace  of  pistols  in  their  belts. 
They  were  aflame  with  the  lust  of  gold,  and  among 
them  were  many  desperate  men  ;  but  they  had  the 
Anglo-Saxon's  instinct  for  organizing  civil  institu- 
tions, and  his  love  of  fair  play.  There 

Camp  legislatures. 

were  not  only  no  mining  laws,  but  in 
many  places  none  of  any  sort.  They  met  the 
emergency  by  a  public  meeting,  which  resolved 


INTERIOR   AND   AGRICULTURE  279 

itself  into  a  legislative  body  with  full  powers,  and 
made  a  code  that  did  not  cover  a  wide  field,  but 
covered  their  case.  The  limits  of  a  claim  and  the 
distribution  of  the  water-supply  were  prescribed 
and  established,  and  every  man  became  a  warrantor 
of  every  other  man's  title.  These  camp  legislators 
had  this  advantage  of  Congress,  and  of  all  other 
legislative  bodies  that  I  know  of — they  had  a  good 
practical  knowledge  of  the  subjects  they  dealt  with. 
These  district  mining  regulations  were  so  fair  that 
when  Congress  came  to  make  laws  upon  the  subject 
they  were  not  only  recognized  as  to  past  transac- 
tions, but  purchases  under  the  law  of  1872  were  to  be 
"  according  to  the  local  customs  or  rules  of  miners 
in  the  several  mining  districts  so  far  as  the  same 
are  applicable,  and  not  inconsistent  with  the  laws 
of  the  United  States."  The  claims  on  a  mining 
lode  or  vein  were  limited  by  the  law  of  1872  to 
fifteen  hundred  feet  in  length  along  the  vein  or  lode, 
and  to  three  hundred  feet  on  each  side  of  the  mid- 
dle of  the  vein  at  the  surface. 

The  "  Census  of  the  population,  wealth,  and  in- 
dustry of  the  United  States,"  as  the  law  calls  it,  is 
taken  every  ten  years.  Section  2  of  census  of  popu- 

.  lation,  wealtn,  and 

Article  1  of  the  Constitution  provides  industry. 
that  the  first  enumeration  of  the  people  of   the 
States  shall  be  made  within  three  years  after  the 
first  meeting  of  Congress,  and  another  within  every 


280  THIS   COUNTKY    OF   OUES 

subsequent  term  of  ten  years.  Population  is  made 
the  basis  of  representation  in  the  House  of  Eepre- 
sentatives,  and  of  direct  taxation,  and  it  is  there- 
fore necessary  that,  at  stated  intervals  and  as  of 
the  same  day  throughout  all  the  States,  a  count  of 
the  people  should  be  made  and  officially  reported 
to  Congress.  This  count  determines  the  relative 
number  of  members  of  Congress  that  each  State 
shall  have  for  the  next  ten  years.  But  the  census 
is  now  much  more  than  a  count  of  the  people.  It 
embraces  a  statistical  inquiry  into  the  wealth, 
health,  occupations,  education,  physical  and  men- 
tal infirmities,  the  public  indebtedness,  the  prod- 
uct and  progress  of  agriculture,  manufactures,  and 
commerce ;  the  number,  sex,  and  ages  of  employees, 
wages  paid,  etc.  The  head  of  the  Census  Bureau 
is  called  the  Superintendent  of  the  Census. 

One  of  the  most  important  and  delicate  duties 
of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  is  the  supervision 
The  Indians-  °^  ^he  Indian  tribes.  There  is  a 
Methods  of  W0rk.  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  who, 
under  the  Secretary,  has  charge  of  all  matters  re- 
lating to  the  Indians  and  a  Board  of  Indian  Com- 
missioners— persons  eminent  for  philanthropy 
and  intelligence — whose  duty  it  is  to  supervise 
the  expenditure  of  all  moneys  appropriated  for  the 
Indians  and  to  inspect  all  goods  purchased  for  their 
use.  The  members  of  the  board  serve  without  com- 


INTERIOR  AND   AGRICULTURE  281 

pensation.  There  are  inspectors  who  visit  the  agen- 
cies and  examine  into  their  condition  and  accounts  ; 
an  agent  for  each  tribe  (generally),  who  lives  on 
the  reservation,  issues  supplies,  enforces  good 
order,  and  by  the  help  of  teachers,  mechanics,  and 
farmers  promotes  the  civilization  of  the  Indians. 
The  policy  of  dealing  with  the  Indian  tribes  as  in- 
dependent nations,  having,  as  tribes,  a  title  to 
large  and  undefined  tracts  of  land,  originated  in 
Colonial  times,  and  was  continued 

No  more  treaties. 

by  the  United  States  until  1871, 
when  a  law  was  enacted  declaring  that  "  no  Indian 
nation  or  tribe  within  the  territory  of  the  United 
States  shall  be  acknowledged  or  recognized  as  an 
independent  nation,  tribe,  or  power  with  whom  the 
United  States  may  contract  by  treaty."  Existing 
treaties  were,  however,  preserved.  We  made  trea- 
ties with  the  tribes  just  as  with  Spain  or  any 
foreign  power.  The  President  acted  under  the 
treaty-making  power  of  the  Constitution,  and  the 
conventions  generally  expressly  stipulated  that 
they  were  to  become  binding  when  ratified  by  the 
Senate.  They  related  chiefly  to  peace  and  war, 
and  to  the  cession  of  lands.  And  yet  the  tribes 
were  in  no  real  sense  independent 

Wards. 

nations.     The  Supreme  Court,  speak- 
ing through   Chief-Justice  Marshall,  called  them 
"  domestic,  dependent  nations,"  and   further   de- 


282  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

fined  their  relations  as  follows :  "  They  occupy  a 
territory  to  which  we  assert  a  title  independent  of 
their  will,  which  must  take  effect  in  point  of  pos- 
session when  their  right  of  possession  ceases. 
Meanwhile  they  are  in  a  state  of  pupilage.  Their 
relation  to  the  United  States  resembles  that  of  a 
ward  to  his  guardian." 

The  Indian  title  to  the  tribal  lands  has  been 
held  to  be  a  mere  right  of  occupancy ;  he  is  not  a 
citizen  within  the  provision  of  the  Fourteenth 
Amendment,  and  cannot  be  naturalized  under  the 
general  naturalization  laws  of  the  United  States. 
The  community  or  tribal  ownership  and  occupa- 
tion of  the  reservations  prevented  the  improve- 
ment of  the  lands  and  promoted  a  wandering  and 
lazy  life.  The  efforts  of  the  Government  to  pro- 
mote the  civilization  of  the  Indians  have  been 
constant  and  costly,  but  not  always  wise.  We 
have  bought  our  peace  by  promises  not  always 
kept ;  have  recognized  and  even  dignified  the 
chiefs,  and  so  perpetuated  the  tribal  relation  and 
land  ownership,  when  the  deposition  of  the  chiefs, 
Lands  in  Bever-  ^e  breaking  up  of  the  tribes,  and  the 
allotment  of  lands  in  severalty  offered 
the  only  permanent  solution  of  the  vexed  Indian 
question.  This  policy  has  now  been  adopted  :  the 
Indian  has  citizenship  and  "  a  white  man's  chance  " 
offered  to  him,  and  must  take  it  or  perish. 


INTERIOR   AND   AGRICULTURE  283 

The  schools  at  Hampton  and  Carlisle  have  done 
a  great  work  for  Indian  children,  but  if  the  educa- 
tion there  received  and  the  decent 

,     i  .,         .    ,..      ,,  .       ,  Indian  schools. 

habits  of  lite  there  acquired  are  to 
be  saved  and  made  effective,  the  pupils  must  not 
be  returned  to  the  tepee  and  to  a  nomadic  life,  but 
to  households  and  to  farms,  or  village  trades.  How 
little  the  old  Indian  appreciates  education  is  dis- 
closed by  an  incident  that  fell  under  my  observa- 
tion in  1885.  With  a  committee  of  the  Senate  I 
visited  the  Crow  Indians  in  Montana,  and  during 
our  talk  the  Indians  were  urged  to  send  their  chil- 
dren to  the  Government  schools.  An  old  chief 
arose  and  said  that  he  had  been  sending  his  chil- 
dren to  the  agency  school,  but  the  Great  Father 
had  never  given  him  anything  for  doing  it,  and  he 
would  not  send  them  any  longer. 

The  "  five  civilized  tribes,"  as  we  have  come  to 
call  them  —  the  Creeks,  Chickasaws,  Cherokees, 
Choctaws,  and  Seminoles — now  oc-  1<Fiye  civilized 
cupy  a  territory  of  about  31,000  tribe8'" 
square  miles,  generally  well  adapted  to  agriculture 
and  stock-raising,  called  the  Indian  Territory.  Our 
treaties  give  them  full  governing  powers  over  their 
own  people,  and  prohibit  the  intrusion  of  white 
settlers.  When  these  tribes  were  removed  from 
their  old  homes  east  of  the  Mississippi  it  seems  to 
have  been  thought  that  a  location  had  been  found 


284  THIS   COUNTRY   OF  OURS 

for  them  that  would  never  be  pressed  upon  by  the 
white  settlements.  The  treaty  of  1828  with  the 
Cherokees  opens  with  this  recital :  "  Whereas  it 
being  the  anxious  desire  of  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  to  secure  to  the  Cherokee  nation  of 
Indians  ...  a  home  that  shall  never  in  all 
future  time  be  embarrassed  by  having  extended 
around  it,  or  placed  over  it,  the  jurisdiction  of  a 
Territory  or  State,  nor  be  pressed  upon  by  the  ex- 
tension in  any  way  of  any  of  the  limits  of  any  ex- 
isting Territory  or  State,"  etc.  But,  within  the 
lifetime  of  men  who  witnessed  the  treaty,  the  ceded 
lands  have  been  encircled  by  organized  States  and 
Territories ;  railroads  have  been  run  in  every  di- 
rection through  the  reservations,  and  intruding 
white  men — many  of  them  vicious  and  desperate — 
have  spoiled  the  experiment  of  an  independent 
Indian  Government.  That  a  necessity  now  con- 
fronts us  to  change  the  whole  basis  of  civil  gov- 
ernment in  the  Indian  Territory  is  clear.  These 
Indians  must  become  citizens  of  the  United  States. 
Perhaps  no  bureau  in  any  of  the  departments 
has  attracted  so  much  interest  or  so  much  criticism 
as  the  Pension  Bureau.  It  deals 
with  the  surviving  veterans  of  our 
wars  and  with  their  widows  and  orphan  children. 
There  may  be  fair  differences  of  opinion  as  to  the 
extent  and  conditions  of  pension  relief,  but  there  is 


INTERIOR   AND   AGRICULTURE  285 

110  room  for  doubt  as  to  pensions.  Eleven  dollars 
a  month  for  war  service  implies,  at  least,  relief  in 
case  of  wounds  or  sickness  for  the  soldier,  and  that, 
in  case  of  death,  the  public  will  care  for  his  widow 
and  minor  children.  When  the  law  of  pillage  pre- 
vailed it  was  otherwise;  and  when  our  rich  men 
take  to  fighting  our  wars  we  can  abolish  the  pen- 
sion system.  But  thus  far  it  is  as  true  of  the 
armies  that  won  our  independence,  delivered  us 
from  the  Indians  and  the  British,  and  saved  the 
nation  in  the  great  Civil  War,  as  of  the  Kingdom 
of  Heaven  :  "  not  many  rich." 

There  are  two  views  of  the  pension  question — 
one  from  the  "Little  Bound  Top"  at  Gettysburg, 
looking  out  over  a  field  sown  thickly 

0  Two  views. 

with  the  dead,  and  around  upon 
bloody,  blackened,  and  maimed  men  cheering  the 
shot-torn  banner  of  their  country  ;  the  other  from 
an  office-desk  on  a  busy  street,  or  from  an  endowed 
chair  in  a  university,  looking  only  upon  a  statis- 
tical table. 

In  1789  Congress  assumed  the  pensions  which 
had  been  granted  by  the  States  to  the  wounded  and 
disabled  soldiers  of  the  Revolutionary  with  war  De- 

,      .    .  .  .  partment  until 

War.      The    administration    of    the  1849. 
pension  business  was  in  the  War  Department  un- 
til 1849,  when  it  was  transferred  to  the  new  De- 
partment of  the  Interior. 


286  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

The  organization  of  the  Pension  Bureau  is  :  A 
commissioner,  two  deputy  commissioners,  a  chief 
clerk,  an  assistant  chief  clerk,  a  medical  referee, 
and  an  assistant  medical  referee,  a  law  clerk,  a 
board  of  review,  and  thirteen  divisions,  each  with 
a  chief. 

One  of  the  Constitutional  powers  of  Congress  is 
to  promote  the  progress  of  science  and  the  useful 
Patents-Patent  arts  ^7  securing  for  limited  times  to 
authors  and  inventors  the  exclusive 
right  to  their  respective  writings  and  discoveries. 
When  we  say  an  article  is  "  patented  "  we  mean 
that  "  letters  patent "  have  been  issued  to  some- 
one as  the  inventor.  We  call  them  "  letters  "  be- 
cause they  are  messages,  addressed  to  the  public, 
and  "  patent "  because  they  are  open  —  to  be 
known  by  all. 

The  general  organization  of  the  Patent  Office  is 
a  commissioner  of  patents,  an  assistant  commis- 
sioner, a  chief  clerk,  three  examiners-in-chief,  an 
examiner  of  interferences,  and  a  large  number  of 
examiners  and  assistant  examiners,  clerks,  and 
draughtsmen. 

Patents  are  granted  to  persons  who  have  in- 
vented or  discovered  any  new  and  useful  art, 
machine,  manufacture,  or  composition  of  matter, 
or  any  new  and  useful  improvement  thereof,  not 
known  or  used  by  others  in  this  country,  not  be- 


INTERIOR   AND   AGRICULTURE  281 

fore  patented,  or  described  in  any  publication  in 
this  or  any  other  country,  and  not  in  public  use 
or  on  sale  for  more  than  two  years ;  and  secure  to 
the  patentee  the  exclusive  use  of  the  patented 
thing  for  a  term  of  seventeen  years. 

The  Act  of  March  2,  1867,  provides  for  what  is 
called  the  "  Office  of  Education,"  and  places  it 
under  the  direction  of  the  Secretary  Offlceof  Educa- 
of  the  Interior.  The  head  of  this 
office  is  called  the  "  Commissioner  of  Education," 
and  his  work  is  "to  collect  and  publish  statistics 
and  facts  showing  the  condition  and  progress  of 
education  in  the  several  States  and  Territories, 
and  to  diffuse  such  information  respecting  the  or- 
ganization and  management  of  schools  and  school 
systems  and  methods  of  teaching,"  as  will  promote 
the  cause  of  education.  The  United  States,  chiefly 
by  land  grants,  has  greatly  aided  both  common 
school  and  university  education  in  the  States,  but 
the  control  of  public  education  belongs  to  the 
several  States.  The  Commissioner  of  Education 
has  no  authority  to  direct,  but  only  to  inform  and 
suggest.  An  exception  exists  in  the  case  of  schools 
in  Alaska,  which  are  under  his  direction.  His 
office  is  a  sort  of  educational  clearing-house. 

The  tremendous  grants  of  public  lands  and  of 
the  public  credit  to  certain  railroads,  and  the  con- 
ditions annexed  thereto  relating  to  the  repayment 


288  THIS    COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

of  the  loans,  and  to  the  transportation  of  the 
mails  and  of  military  supplies,  seemed  to  call  for 
commissioner  of  an  officer  especially  charged  with  the 

duty  of  looking  after  and  protect- 
ing the  public  interests  growing  out  of  these 
great  and  complicated  transactions.  And  so,  in 
1870,  the  office  of  Auditor  of  Railroad  Accounts 
was  created  in  the  Interior  Department.  The  title 
of  the  head  of  the  office  was  changed,  in  1881,  to 
that  of  "  Commissioner  of  Railroads."  His  duties 
are  to  require  annual  reports  from  the  aided  rail- 
roads, to  see  that  the  laws  relating  to  such  roads 
are  enforced,  and  to  make  an  annual  report  of 
their  condition. 

The  Geological  Survey  is  another  subject,  the 
direction  of  which  is  committed  to  the  Secretary 

of  the  Interior.      The  head  of  this 

Geological  Survey.  . 

office  is  called  the  "Director  of  the 
Geological  Survey."  The  work  of  the  survey  has 
covered  a  very  wide  range.  The  main  object  was 
the  geological  examination  of  the  public  lands, 
with  a  special  view  to  their  mineral  resources. 
This  has  been  in  good  part  accomplished,  and 
very  much  more  that  is  of  great  historic  and  scien- 
tific value. 


THE   DEPARTMENT   OF   AGRICULTURE       289 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE 

The  Department  of  Agriculture  was  created  in 
1862,  but  it  was  not  made  an  executive  depart- 
ment and  the  head  of  it  a  member  of  Created  in  1862 
the  Cabinet  until  February,  1889.  ^aede  d\VS 
Before  the  last-named  date  the  so- 
called  department  was  in  fact  only  an  independent 
bureau,  and  the  head  of  it  was  called  the  "  Com- 
missioner of  Agriculture."  His  duties  were  to  ac- 
quire and  to  diffuse  among  the  people  useful  in- 
formation on  subjects  connected  with  agriculture, 
and  to  procure,  propagate,  and  distribute  seeds  and 
plants. 

Since  February  9,  1889,  the  scope  of  the  depart- 
ment has  been  much  enlarged.  One  of  the  most 
important  of  the  new  duties  imposed  inspection  of 

.  meats  and  ani- 

upon  the  Secretary  is  that  01  in-  male. 
specting  and  certifying  meats  intended  for  ex- 
port, when  the  laws  of  the  country  to  which  the 
meats  are  destined  require  an  inspection,  or  when, 
the  exporter  asks  for  an  inspection.  An  inspection 
of  live  animals  intended  for  export  was  also  pro- 
vided. The  inspection  of  meats  is  usually  made 
at  the  packing-house — parts  of  each  carcass  being 
subjected  to  the  microscope — and  the  cases,  when 

ready  for  shipment,  are  suitably  stamped  by  the 
19 


290  THIS   COUNTRY    OF   OUES 

agents  of  the  department.  The  department  has 
also  authority  to  inspect  and  quarantine  live  ani- 
mals imported,  and  to  slaughter  such  as  are  found 
to  be  diseased ;  to  inspect  and  disinfect,  when 
necessary,  the  vessels  engaged  in  transporting  live 
animals  ;  to  make  rules  that  will  secure  the  humane 
treatment  of  such  animals,  and  to  prevent  the 
transportation  of  diseased  animals  from  one  State 
to  another.  All  this  elaborate  and  costly  scheme 
for  the  inspection  of  meats  and  animals  for  export 
was  made  necessary  by  governmental  discrimina- 
tions against  our  meats  in  the  great  European 
markets.  Ostensibly  upon  the  ground  that  diseased 
meats  came  in  from  the  United  States,  but  in  truth 
largely  to  protect  their  own  meat  producers  against 
competition,  some  of  the  European  governments 
had  either  excluded  our  meats  or  laid  upon  their 
importation  severe  restrictions.  The  true  motive 
would  be  uncovered  by  a  rigid  inspection  before 
shipment;  and  the  President  was  empowered,  if 
such  unjust  restrictions  were  continued,  to  retaliate 
by  the  exclusion  from  this  country  of  designated 
articles  coming  from  the  countries  maintaining 
such  restrictions. 

There  is  an  Assistant  Secretary  of  Agriculture, 
and  the  department  is  divided  into  the  following 
divisions :  Division  of  Accounts  and  Disburse- 
ments, of  Statistics,  of  Botany,  of  Entomology,  of 


THE   DEPARTMENT   OF  AGRICULTURE       291 

Pomology,  of  Vegetable  Pathology,  of  Chemistry, 
of  Forestry,  of  Publications,  of  Experiment  Sta- 
tions, Of  Agrostology,  of  Soils,  Of  Fiber  organization  of 

Investigation,  and  of  Boad  Inquiry.  Department. 
At  the  head  of  each  there  is  a  chief  of  division. 
There  are  also  experimental  gardens  and  grounds, 
under  a  superintendent,  a  Bureau  of  Animal  In- 
dustry, with  a  chief,  and  a  museum  with  a  curator 
in  charge. 

The  department  has  issued  some  very  valuable 
reports  and  monographs  upon  matters  relating  to 
soils,  the  cultivation  of  crops,  the  in-  Publication8_ 
sect  pests  of  the  field  and  the  orchard,  Weather  Burean 
the  diseases  of  domestic  animals,  and  upon  many 
other  subjects  connected  with  agriculture  in  its 
broad  sense.  The  work  done  has  more  than  justi- 
fied the  law  making  it  an  executive  department. 
It  has  already  been  said  that  the  Weather  Bureau 
was  transferred  to  the  Department  of  Agriculture 
in  1891.  The  value  of  this  service  to  the  people, 
and  especiaUy  to  the  farmer  and  to  the  mariner, 
cannot  be  overestimated.  It  saves  us  from  very 
large  losses  annually.  The  methods  used  in  col- 
lecting and  tabulating  the  meteorological  data,  and 
in  distributing  the  information  derived,  and  the 
publication  of  forecasts  by  flags  and  bulletins,  are 
familiar  to  almost  everyone. 


CHAPTER    XIX 

INDEPENDENT  BOARDS  AND   COMMISSIONS 

SMITHSONIAN  INSTITUTION— ORIGIN  OF— REGENTS— JOSEPH  HENRY 
— DEPARTMENT  OF  LABOR — INTERSTATE  COMMERCE  COMMIS- 
SION— CIVIL  SERVICE  COMMISSION — PISH  COMMISSION — PRO- 
FESSOR BAIRD— THE  CARP  A  BLUNDER. 

THERE  are  some  boards,  commissions,  and  es- 
tablishments, outside  of  the  eight  executive  de- 
partments, that  should  be  briefly  noticed. 

The  Smithsonian  Institution  is  not  under  the 

care   or    direction   of  any   of  the   executive   de- 

smithsonian  in-  partments.    It  had  its  origin  in  a  be- 

stitution,      origin 

of-  quest  of  James  Smithson,  an  English 

scientist,  who  died  in  Genoa,  in  1829.  He  gave  to 
the  United  States  something  more  than  half  a  mill- 
ion of  dollars  "  to  found  at  Washington,  under  the 
name  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  an  establish- 
ment for  the  increase  and  diffusion  of  knowledge 
among  men."  The  money  was  paid  into  the  Treas- 
ury in  1838,  but  it  was  not  until  1846  that  a  law 
was  passed  organizing  the  Institution.  The  United 
States  assumed  to  pay  six  per  cent,  interest  on  the 
fund  semi-annually  for  the  uses  of  the  Institution, 

holding  the  principal   intact   and   receiving   any 

292 


INDEPENDENT   BOARDS   AND   COMMISSIONS     293 

further  sums  deposited  for  the  same  uses  up  to  a 
limit  named.  By  the  amendatory  act  of  1894  the 
President,  the  Vice-President,  the  Chief -Justice,  and 
the  heads  of  the  executive  departments  are  made 
an  "  establishment  "  by  the  name  of  the  "Smith- 
sonian Institution,"  with  perpetual  succession. 
The  government  is  by  a  Board  of 

Board  of  Regents. 

Regents  composed  of  the  Vice-Presi- 
dent, the  Chief-Justice,  three  members  of  the  Sen- 
ate (to  be  selected  by  the  President  thereof),  three 
members  of  the  House  of  Representatives  (to  be 
selected  by  the  Speaker),  and  six  other  persons, 
two  of  them  to  be  residents  of  Washington,  to  be 
selected  by  a  joint  resolution  of  Congress.  A 
chancellor,  chosen  from  the  board,  an  executive 
committee,  a  secretary,  an  assistant  secretary, 
and  a  curator,  complete  the  general  organization. 
The  selection  of  Professor  Joseph 

TT  J.T-      £L          o  Joseph  Henry. 

Henry  as  the  nrst  Secretary  was  an 
inspiration.  He  held  the  office  until  his  death,  in 
1878.  "  The  increase  and  diffusion  of  knowledge  " 
was  the  life  purpose  of  Henry.  Professor  New- 
comb  said  of  him  :  "  He  never  engaged  in  an  in- 
vestigation or  an  enterprise  which  was  to  put  a 
dollar  into  his  own  pocket,  but  aimed  only  at  the 
general  good  of  the  world."  His  great  attainments 
as  a  scientist  and  his  great  wisdom  as  an  adminis- 
trator enabled  him,  in  thirty  years  of  devoted  ser- 


294  THIS   COUNTRY    OF   OUES 

vice,  to  place  the  Institution  among  the  world's 
great  fountains  of  knowledge.  The  Institution 
publishes  contributions  upon  a  great  variety  of 
subjects,  maintains  an  annual  course  of  lectures,  a 
great  museum,  conducts  original  investigations  and 
explorations,  and  exchanges  books  and  specimens 
with  other  institutions. 

The  Bureau  of  Labor,  established  in  1884,  was, 
in  1888,  made  the  "  Department  of  Labor,"  under 

TheDepartmentof  the  charg6  °f  a  cMef  officer  Called  the 

Labor,  work  of.  „  Commissioner  of  Labor."  The  gen- 
eral purposes  of  the  department,  as  set  forth  in  the 
law,  are  to  "  acquire  and  diffuse  among  the  people 
of  the  United  States  useful  information  on  subjects 
connected  with  labor  in  the  most  general  and  com- 
prehensive sense  of  that  word,  and  especially  upon 
its  relation  to  capital,  the  hours  of  labor,  the  earn- 
ings of  laboring  men  and  women,  and  the  means 
of  promoting  their  material,  social,  intellectual,  and 
moral  prosperity."  The  Commissioner  is  specifi- 
cally required  to  ascertain  the  cost  of  producing  in 
foreign  countries  articles  dutiable  in  the  United 
States :  the  wages  paid,  hours  of  labor,  profits  on 
capital  employed,  the  cost  of  living,  etc.;  also  the 
effect  of  the  customs  duties,  and  what  articles  are 
controlled  by  trusts  or  combinations  of  capital  or 
labor ;  the  cause  and  effect  of  ail  labor  troubles  that 
may  occur ;  and  what  convict-made  goods  are  im- 


INDEPENDENT  BOAKDS   AND   COMMISSIONS     295 

ported  into  the  United  States.  The  vastness  and 
intricacy  of  the  work  laid  out  for  the  Commissioner 
will  be  revealed  to  the  reader  who  at- 

„  Labor  question. 

tempts  to  supply  the  details  involved 
in  the  sweeping  phrases  of  the  law.  Some  valuable 
reports  have  been  printed  by  the  Commissioner ; 
but  the  labor  question  has  not  been  solved,  and  is 
not  to  be  solved — though  the  solution  may  be  aided 
— by  statistical  tables. 

The  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  was  es- 
tablished by  the  "  act  to  regulate  commerce  "  ap- 
proved February  4,  1887.  The  law  interstate  com- 

.  .  merce    Comm  i  s  - 

is  the  exercise  of  the  power  given  to  sum. 
Congress  by  the   Constitution   to   regulate   com- 
merce among  the  States.     It  is  expressly  declared 
that   its   provisions  do  not  embrace 

.  Provisions  of  law. 

transportation  wholly  within  any  one 
State.  It  provides  that  transportation  rates  shall 
be  reasonable  ;  prohibits  discrimination  among 
shippers,  by  special  rates,  rebates,  or  any  other 
device,  and  any  preferences  of  localities  ;  requires 
equal  facilities  to  be  given  to  all  connecting  lines  ; 
declares  that  the  aggregate  charge  for  a  short 
haul  shall  not  be  more  than  for  a  long  haul, 
except  as  allowed  by  the  Commission  ;  and  makes 
illegal  all  pooling  agreements  for  the  division  of 
freights  or  earnings  between  competing  railroads. 
Fare  and  freight  schedules  are  required  to  be 


296  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

printed  and  posted  in  public  places,  and  no  ad- 
vance of  fares  or  rates  can  be  charged  until  after 
ten  days'  notice  of  the  change ;  no  reduced  rates 
or  fares  can  be  taken  until  after  three  days'  notice ; 
and  no  fares  or  rates  greater  or  less  than  the 
schedule  rates  and  fares  can  be  received.  The 
Commission  consists  of  five  members,  not  more 
than  three  of  whom  can  be  of  the  same  political 

Work  of  Com-       PartJ-      Jt    is   the    dutv    °f   the    C°m- 

mission.  mission  to  hear  complaints  of  viola- 
tions of  the  law,  and  to  institute  proceedings  in 
the  courts  for  such  violations.  It  has  power  to 
call  for  annual  reports  from  all  carriers  subject  to 
the  act,  and  for  answers  to  any  specific  inquiries 
the  Commission  may  submit.  There  have  been 
many  cases  in  the  courts  arising  out  of  the  law, 
affecting  the  powers  of  the  Commission,  but  it  is 
only  intended  here  to  give  an  outline  of  the  scope 
of  the  law  and  of  the  work  of  the  Commission. 

The  Civil  Service  Commission  was  created  by 
the  act  of  January  16,  1883.  It  consists  of  three 
The  civil  service  commissioners,  not  more  than  two  of 

Commi88ion.         whom    can    be    of    the    game   political 

party.  It  is  provided  with  a  chief  examiner,  a 
secretary,  and  a  number  of  clerks.  The  purpose 
of  the  law  was  to  withdraw  from  the  influence  of 
politics  and  favoritism  the  appointments  to  clerical 
positions  in  the  public  service.  There  have  been 


INDEPENDENT   BOARDS   AND   COMMISSIONS     297 

from  time  to  time  extensions  of  the  classified  service 
by  orders  of  the  President,  until  now  about  84,000 
appointments  are  included  out  of  about  178,000  of 
all  grades.  Examinations  are  held  at  Washington 
and  at  other  points  throughout  the 

Examinations. 

country  for  positions  in  the  dinerent 
branches  of  the  service.  Those  who  pass  the  ex- 
aminations are  graded  and  listed  as  eligible  for 
appointment,  and  when  vacancies  occur  names  are 
certified  from  these  lists  to  fill  them.  Assess- 
ments for  party  purposes  are  forbidden,  and  also 
the  solicitation  in  any  public  building  of  money 
for  such  uses.  No  Presidential  appointments — 
such  as  must  be  confirmed  by  the  Senate — are 
included  in  the  classified  service.  As  the  exten- 
sions of  the  classified  service  are  by  the  orders  of 
the  President  it  follows  that  such  orders  may  be 
revoked  or  modified  at  his  pleasure.  Every  order 
of  extension  not  only  fences  out  those  Fenceg  in  ag  well 
who  seek  places  upon  party  consid- 
erations and  influence,  but  fences  in  the  incum- 
bents— every  one  of  whom  perhaps  has  been  ap- 
pointed upon  such  considerations.  Just  now  the 
Civil  Service  law  is  being  subjected  to  an  attack 
incited  by  this  consideration  largely.  But,  spite 
of  mistakes  in  its  administration,  the  system  will 
stand.  The  examination  paper  is  not  an  infallible 
test  of  fitness  for  these  clerical  positions  ;  but  it  is 


298  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

a  better  test  than  mere  party  service,  and  perhaps 
the  best  that  can  be  devised. 

The  Fish  Commission  was  first  established  in 
1871,  by  an  act  which  provided  for  the  appoint- 
The  Fish  com-     men^  of  a  Commissioner  of  Fish  and 
Fisheries  from  among  the  civil  officers 
or  employees  of  the  Government.    He  was  required 
to  be  a  person  of  proved  scientific  and  practical 
acquaintance  with  the  fishes  of  the  coast,  and  to 
serve  without  additional  salary.     The  first   com- 
missioner was  Professor  Spencer  F. 

Professor  Baird.  . 

Baird,  who  was  at  the  time  Assistant 
Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  and  who 
became  Secretary  on  the  death  of  Professor  Henry. 
Professor  Baird's  "  scientific  and  practical "  knowl- 
edge of  fishes  was  such  as  to  win  him  medals 
and  decorations.  A  talk  with  him  upon  the  sub- 
ject was  a  delightful  experience.  In  1888  the 
requirement  that  the  commissioner  should  be  an 
officer  or  employee  of  the  Government  was  re- 
pealed, and  provision  made  for  the  appointment 
of  a  commissioner  at  an  annual  salary  of  $5,000. 
The  detail  of  officers  and  men  of  the  Eevenue 
Marine  for  Fish  Commission  work  was  authorized, 
and  from  time  to  time  appropriations  have  been 
made  for  the  construction  of  vessels  for  the  special 
service  of  the  Commission.  The  general  work  of 
the  Commission  is  to  study  the  habits  of  the  food 


INDEPENDENT   BOARDS   AND   COMMISSIONS     299 

fishes,  and  to  devise  measures  for  maintaining  the 
supply.  Hatcheries  have  been  established  at 
many  places,  and  every  year  millions  of  the  fry  of 
shad,  salmon,  trout,  and  other  food  fishes  are 
placed  in  the  rivers  of  the  country. 

.  .  ^  The  carp  a  blunder. 

The  only  serious  mistake  01  the  Com- 
mission was  the  introduction  of  the  carp,  under 
the  mistaken  impression  that  it  could  be  made  an 
American  food  fish. 


CHAPTER  XX 
THE    JUDICIARY 

A  SUPREME  INDEPENDENT  JUDICIARY — JUDICIAL  POWERS  UNDER 
CONFEDERATION — CONSTITUTIONALITY  OF  LAWS  OF  CONGRESS 
— OF  THE  STATES — COURT  TRIES  ACTUAL  CASES — WASHING- 
TON'S QUESTIONS — SUIT  AGAINST  A  STATE — ELEVENTH  AMEND- 
MENT— WASHINGTON'S  ESTIMATION  OP  SUPREME  COURT — No 
END  TO  CONSTITUTIONAL  QUESTIONS — POLITICAL  QUESTIONS. 

A  SUPREME  independent  judiciary  is  an  indispen- 
sable element  of  every  government  that  engages  to 

A  supreme  in-  protect  the  property  rights  and  liber- 
dependent  judi-  ,  .  .  .  . 
clary.  ties  of  its  citizens ;  for  protection  in- 
volves ascertainment — a  judgment — and  a  mandate. 
An  orderly  and  peaceful  community  is  impossible 
without  a  court  to  adjudge  the  inevitable  disputes 
between  the  individuals  who  compose  it,  and  to 
ascertain  and  punish  infractions  of  the  public 
peace.  These  duties  cannot  be  intrusted  to  a 
foreign  tribunal.  The  government  that  enacts 
laws  must  have  its  own  courts  to  interpret  and 
apply  them. 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  the  su- 
preme law,  and  every  law  of  Congress,  every  State 
Constitution,  and  every  State  law  must  be  brought 
to  the  test  of  this  supreme  law,  and  is  valid  or  in- 

300 


THE  JUDICIARY  301 

valid  as  it  stands,  or  fails  to  stand,  that  test.  The 
interpretation  and  enforcement  of  the  National 
Constitution  and  laws  could  not,  for  Constitution  the 
several  obvious  reasons,  be  left  to  <">Pr«me1™- 
the  State  courts.  Uniformity  of  interpretation 
would  be  impossible  if  the  Supreme  Appellate 
Courts  of  the  States  could,  each  for  itself,  and  finally 
for  the  people  of  the  particular  State,  construe  the 
National  Constitution  and  laws.  And  especially 
questions  affecting  the  conflicting  powers  of  a 
State  and  of  the  National  Government  could  not 
be  left  to  the  decision  of  the  State  court.  If  the 
powers  given  to  the  National  Government  were 
to  be  maintained,  and  uniformly  and  beneficially 
exercised,  it  was  essential  that  the  final  judicial 
determination  of  the  scope  and  limits  of  those  pow- 
ers should  be  confided  to  national  courts.  It 
would  not  have  done  in  1861  to  submit  the  ques- 
tion of  the  right  of  a  State  to  secede  from  the 
Union  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  South  Carolina,  or 
perhaps  to  any  court. 

The  Articles  of  Confederation  gave  to  Congress 
the  power  to  appoint  courts  for  the  trial  of  pira- 
cies and  felonies  committed  on  the  judicial  powers 

...  t       •  i  •         under  Coniedera- 

high  seas,   and   of   appeals  in  prize  tion. 
cases ;  and  Congress  was  made  the  court  of  final 
appeal  in  all  disputes  between  States  concerning 
boundaries,  jurisdiction,  and  other  matters,  and  of 


302  THIS   COUNTRY    OF   OURS 

conflicting  claims  to  lands  held  or  claimed  under 
grants  from  different  States.  This  was  a  very  lim- 
ited and  inadequate  jurisdiction,  and  was  very 
feebly  exercised.  The  State  courts  showed  little 
more  deference  to  the  Judicial  Department  of  the 
Confederation  than  the  State  Legislatures  did  to 
Congress.  A  Pennsylvania  court  refused  to  rec- 
ognize the  appellate  jurisdiction  in  a  prize  case, 
and  Congress,  recognizing  the  crude  and  inefficient 
character  of  the  judicial  powers  of  the  Confedera- 
tion, sometimes  directed  Federal  cases  to  be  tried 
in  the  State  Courts.  The  Confederacy  had  no 
court  authorized  to  construe  and  enforce  the  laws 
of  Congress,  or  to  punish  offences  other  than 
felonies  on  the  seas.  Hamilton  spoke  of  this  as 
the  crowning  defect  of  the  Articles  of  Confed- 
eration. 

The  framers  of  the  Constitution,  instructed  by 
the  defects  of  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  saw 

state  laws  tested  tnat'  questions  as  to  the  validity  of 
by  constitution.  siaie  jawg  mugt  arise  Certain  su- 
preme powers  were  to  be  given  to  the  United 
States,  and  certain  other  powers  prohibited  to  the 
States.  There  must  be  a  veto  power  somewhere 
upon  any  State  laws  that  invaded  the  powers  of 
the  United  States  or  used  the  powers  prohibited 
to  the  States.  Mr.  Madison  proposed  that  Con- 
gress should  have  the  power  to  veto  a  State  law, 


THE   JUDICIARY  303 

but  the  Convention  was  led  to  a  wiser  solution  of 
the  difficulty. 

To  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  an 
independent  judicial  tribunal  of  the  highest  dig- 
nity, removed  as  far  as  men  can  be  The  8upreme 
removed  from  the  sway  of  human 
passions  and  prejudices,  and  placed  under  the  sanc- 
tion of  the  highest  obligation  that  can  be  imposed 
upon  men  to  exercise  justice  without  fear  or  favor, 
the  safe-keeping  of  the  ark  of  our  civil  covenant 
was  committed.  The  power  to  bring  laws  to  the 
test  of  the  Constitution  is  not  limited  to  the  laws 
of  the  States,  but  includes  the  laws  of  Congress. 
This  power  must  be  exercised  by  some  body  or 
tribunal,  if  the  "  supreme  law  "  is  to  be  supreme. 
Gouverneur  Morris  said  :  "  Such  power  in  judges 
is  dangerous ;  but  unless  it  exists  somewhere  the 
time  employed  in  framing  a  bill  of  rights  and  form 
of  Government  was  merely  thrown  away." 

The  first  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  holding 
a  law  of  Congress  to  be  unconstitutional  was  given 
in  1803  (Marbury  vs.  Madison,  1  A  law  of  con- 

.    .  .  gress   unconstitu- 

Cranch,  137),  the  opinion  being  de-  nonai. 
livered  by  Chief -Justice  Marshall.  In  the  course 
of  the  opinion  he  said  :  "  So  if  a  law  be  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  Constitution  ;  if  both  the  law  and  the 
Constitution  apply  to  a  particular  case,  so  that  the 
Court  must  either  decide  that  case  conformably 


304  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

to  the  law,  disregarding  the  Constitution,  or  con- 
formably to  the  Constitution,  disregarding  the  law, 
the  court  must  determine  which  of  these  conflicting 
rules  governs  the  case."  Nothing  can  be  added  to 
this  luminous  statement.  We  have  a  higher  law  and 
a  lower  law.  When  they  both  apply  to  a  case  be- 
fore the  court,  the  higher  law  must  prevail— is  the 
law  of  the  case ;  and  the  courts  must  follow  the 
law.  The  manner  in  which  this  high  power  is 
exercised  has  greatly  tended  to  promote  its  effec- 
tiveness and  to  avoid  the  irritations  that  would 
otherwise  have  been  excited.  The  laws  of  Congress 
and  of  the  States  are  not  laid  before  the  Supreme 
Court  to  be  marked  "  Constitutional"  or  "  Uncon- 
stitutional," as  the  case  may  be,  and  returned  to 
the  Legislative  bodies.  The  court  takes  no  notice 
of  statutes  until  they  are  brought  to  its  attention 
in  a  "  case  " — a  real  controversy  between  persons. 
It  will  not  answer  abstract  questions  nor  hear 
court  tries  "  moot  cases."  In  1793 Washington, 

cases.     Washing-          . 

ton-s  questions,  being  greatly  perplexed  by  some 
questions  of  international  law  growing  out  of  the  ob- 
streperous conduct  of  the  representative  of  France, 
propounded  to  the  Supreme  Court  twenty-nine 
questions :  as  to  the  right  of  France  to  fit  out  ves- 
sels of  war  in  our  ports,  to  set  up  prize  courts  in 
our  territory;  whether  free  bottoms  made  free 
cargoes,  etc.  The  Court  respectfully  declined  to 


THE   JUDICIARY  305 

answer  the  questions — holding  that  it  could  only 
give  opinions  in  cases  properly  brought  before  it. 
In  some  of  the  States  provision  is  made  for  sub- 
mitting abstract  questions  to  their  supreme  courts. 
In  the  civil  crisis  that  occurred  in  Maine  under  Gov- 
ernor Garcelon  this  method  of  getting  a  judicial 
expression  was  used  with  good  effect,  but,  on  the 
whole,  it  is  better  that  all  questions  requiring  a 
judicial  determination  should  be  brought  before 
the  courts  in  suits  between  individuals. 

The  Supreme  Appellate  Courts  of  the  States 
exercise  the  power  to  declare  acts  of  the  State 
Legislatures  to  be  invalid  if  they  conflict  with  the 
Constitutions  of  the  States.  Under  the  English 
Constitution — where  an  Act  of  Parliament  is  the 
highest  written  law — the  courts  are  not  called  up- 
on to  decide  between  an  Act  of  Par-  NO  question  of 

.        .  constitutionality 

liament    and    a    Constitution.     The     in  England. 

• 

English  courts,  however,  must  interpret  Acts 
of  Parliament  when  they  affect  cases  before  the 
courts.  But  if  a  law  is  interpreted  in  a  sense 
other  than  that  intended  by  Parliament,  it  is  in 
the  power  of  that  body  to  pass  another  act  that 
will  carry  out  the  original  intention.  That  may 
also  be  done  here  if  the  question  is  only  one  of 
interpretation.  But  if  a  law,  as  to  its  general 
purpose,  is  held  by  the  Supreme  Court  to  be 
invalid  because  it  conflicts  with  the  Constitution, 
20 


306  THIS    COUNTRY   OF   OUKS 

Congress  is  without  any  further  constitutional 
power  in  the  matter.  The  decision  is  strictly  linal 
only  between  the  parties  to  the  case  in  which  it 
was  rendered.  As  to  other  persons  it  is  only  final 
in  the  sense  that  if  they  assert  any  right  under 
the  same  statute  they  may  expect  their  cases  to 
be  decided  in  the  same  way.  But  the  Consti- 
tution has  not  left  the  people  Avithout  an  orderly 
way  of  making  the  Constitution  what  they  desire 
it  to  be,  if  the  Supreme  Court  should  construe  it 
to  be  something  else.  That  method  is  by  amend- 
ments proposed  to  the  States,  either  by  a  vote  of 
two-thirds  of  both  Houses  of  Congress,  or  by  a 
convention  requested  by  the  Legislatures  of  two- 
thirds  of  the  States,  and  adopted  by  the  Legislat- 
ures of  three-fourths  of  the  States,  or  by  conven- 
tions in  such  States.  There  is  an  instance  of  such 
a  use  of  the  power  of  amendment.  The  Second, 
Section  of  Article  Three  of  the  Constitution  de- 
clares that  "the  judicial  power  shall  extend  .  .  . 
to  controversies  .  .  .  between  a  State  and  citi- 
zens of  another  State." 

In  the  "  Federalist "  Hamilton  argued  that  the 
jurisdiction   thus  given  did  not  extend   to   suits 

suit  against  a     brought  by   individuals  as  plaintiffs 
against  States.     But  in  1793  the  Su- 
preme Court,  in  an  opinion  by  Chief -Justice  Jay, 
held  that  the  jurisdiction  did  extend  to  such  cases, 


THE  JUDICIAEY  307 

and  entertained  a  suit  by  one  Chisholm,  a  citizen 
of  South  Carolina,  against  the  State  of  Georgia, 
for  the  recovery  of  a  debt.  Great  popular  ex- 
citement followed  the  decision,  for  it  seemed  to 
be  in  derogation  of  the  dignity  of  a  State  that 
it  should  be  drawn  into  court  at  the  suit  of  a 
citizen  of  another  State.  Relief  was  sought  and 
obtained — not  by  packing  the  court,  but  by  the 
adoption,  the  following  year,  of  the  Eleventh 
Amendment,  which  declares  that  the  judicial 
power  "shall  not  be  construed"  to  Eleventh Amend. 
extend  to  suits  by  citizens  of  another 
State  or  of  a  foreign  country,  against  a  State.  In 
the  exercise  of  this  extreme  but  necessary  power 
to  declare  a  law  of  Congress  or  of  a  State  to  be 
invalid,  the  Supreme  Court  has  acted  with  great 
conservatism,  but  also  with  great  courage.  The 
services  of  that  court,  in  defining  and  defending 
the  national  powers,  can  hardly  be  over-estimated, 
and  are  popularly  very  much  under-estimated. 

Washington  has  left  on  record  many  expressions 
of  his  estimate  of  the  value  of  the  Washington's 

.  .        estimation  of  the 

national  judiciary  as  an  element  in   supreme  court. 
our  system  of  Government.     They  have  a  present 
application. 

In  transmitting  his  commission  as  Chief-Justice 
to  John  Jay,  of  New  York,  he  took  occasion  to 
say :  "  It  gives  me  singular  pleasure  to  address 


308  THIS    COUNTRY    OF    OURS 

you  as  the  head  of  that  great  department  which 
must  be  considered  the  keystone  of  our  political 
fabric." 

And  to  James  Wilson  he  wrote :  "  Considering 
the  judicial  system  as  the  chief  pillar  upon  which 
our  Government  must  rest,  I  have  thought  it  my 
duty  to  nominate  for  the  high  offices  in  that  de- 
partment such  men  as  I  conceived  would  give 
dignity  and  lustre  to  our  national  character." 

These  expressions  of  Washington  are  impressive 
and  ought  to  be  pondered  by  those  who  are  in- 
clined to  disparage  the  judiciary,  and  by  those 
who  would  destroy  the  independence  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  by  threats  of  reconstructing  it  when 
their  views  of  constitutional  construction  are  not 
followed. 

Mr.  Webster's  statement  that  "the  Constitution 
without  it  would  be  no  Constitution— the  Govern- 
ment no  Government,"  is  not  an  overstatement. 

Among  the  men  who  framed  the  National  Con- 
stitution there  were  many  of  eminent  legal  ability, 
NO  end  to  con-  and  some  who  possessed  in  a  high 

gtitutional     ques- 

tione.  degree  the  faculty  of  accurate  expres- 

sion ;  yet  from  the  hour  that  Government  under 
the  Constitution  was  instituted  until  this  hour  a 
great  procession  of  questions  as  to  the  meaning 
of  this  section  or  this  phrase  of  that  instrument 
has  been  moving  into  the  Supreme  Court-room  for 


THE   JUDICIARY  309 

solution.  The  door  has  not  yet  closed  upon  the 
last  of  them  and  probably  never  will.  These  ques- 
tions relate  not  only  to  the  text — to  the  express 
powers  granted  to  the  national  Government — but 
every  express  power  may  carry  one  or  many  inci- 
dental powers — that  is,  powers  necessary  to  carry 
into  effect  the  express  or  specific  power.  The 
power  or  direction  to  do  a  particular  thing  implies 
the  power  or  direction  to  do  all  other  things  that 
must  be  done  to  execute  the  power  or  carry  out 
the  direction.  To  the  lay  mind  it  Provisions  gen- 

..  .  eral.      New   con- 

may  seem  to  be  puzzling  and  not  a  ditions. 

little  discouraging  that  a  century  has  not  sufficed 
to  interpret  the  Constitution  ;  but  the  explanation 
is  largely  in  the  fact  that  constitutional  provisions 
are  general  and  not  particular,  and  the  court  is  re- 
quired constantly  to  apply  them  to  particulars  and 
to  new  conditions.  What  does  the  interstate  com- 
merce clause  mean  as  applied  to  railroads  and  the 
telegraph — things  the  writer  of  that  clause  never 
dreamed  of  ?  How  are  the  limitations  of  the  Con- 
stitution to  be  applied  to  a  state  of  civil  war  ?  How 
is  the  guarantee  of  a  republican  form  of  govern- 
ment to  the  States  to  be  made  good  in  the  case  of 
an  attempted  secession?  Is  an  Executive  proc- 
lamation effective  to  emancipate  the  slaves  in 
time  of  civil  war  ?  It  would  not  have  been  safe  to 
try  to  be  specific,  even  if  all  these  things  could 


310  THIS   COUNTRY    OF   OURS 

have  been  anticipated  by  the  members  of  the  Con- 
vention. And  it  may  be  that  if  every  future  appli- 
cation of  the  general  propositions  adopted  had  been 
foreseen  some  of  the  most  important  of  them  would 
have  been  negatived. 

The  makers  of  our  Constitution,  instructed  by 
the  experience  of  the  Colonies,  by  the  State  Con- 
Divisionof      stitutions   already  adopted,    and  by 
powers.        earlier  lessons  from  British  history, 
found  an  easy  agreement  upon  the  general  princi- 
ple that  the  judicial  power  of  the  United  States 
should  be  vested  in  a  separate  and  independent 
department.     The  division  of  powers  will  be  made 
plainer  by  bringing  together  the  opening  sentences 
of  the  first  three  Articles  of  the  Constitution  : 

Article  1.  All  Legislative  powers  herein  granted  shall 
be  vested  in  a  Congress  of  the  United  States. 

Article  2.  The  Executive  power  shall  be  vested  in  a 
President  of  the  United  States  of  America. 

Article  8.  The  Judicial  power  of  the  United  States 
shall  be  vested  in  one  Supreme  Court,  and  in  such  infe- 
rior Courts  as  the  Congress  may  from  time  to  time  or- 
dain and  establish. 

Upon  this  threefold  frame  the  other  provisions  of 
the  Constitution  are  hung.  The  limitations  upon 
the  powers  of  the  United  States  Courts  will  be 
more  clearly  understood  if  what  has  been  be- 
fore said  in  another  connection  is  recalled  here — 


THE  JUDICIAKY  311 

namely,  that  the  powers  of  Government  in  this 
country  are  divided  between  the  nation  and  the 
States  upon  the  principle  that  certain  powers  are 
set  off  to  the  United  States,  and  all  other  powers, 
save  a  few  that  are  prohibited,  are  retained  by  the 
States.  The  Constitution  enumerates  the  powers 
which  the  people  have  given  to  the  The  judicial 
nation.  "  The  judicial  power  of  the  power> 
United  States  "  is,  therefore,  such  power  of  a  judi- 
cial nature  as  the  Constitution  gives  to  the  United 
States  —  no  more.  The  residue  of  the  judicial 
power  the  people  have  reserved,  and  have  given 
the  whole,  or  such  part  of  this  reserved  power  as 
pleased  them,  to  the  State  Courts. 

But  as  to  the  subjects  or  cases  given  to  be 
judged  by  the  United  States  Courts  the  power  is 
complete  and  supreme.  The  decision  questions  of  juris- 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  in  any  case  of  which  it  has  jurisdiction  is 
final ;  and  the  question  whether  it  has  jurisdiction 
of  the  case  it  must,  of  course,  settle  for  itself.  No 
other  court  can  intercept  its  mandates.  The  final 
interpretation  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  as  affecting  the  question  of  the  court's  ju- 
risdiction to  receive  a  case,  as  well  as  to  the  prin- 
ciples upon  which  the  case  is  to  be  judged,  is,  and 
must  in  the  nature  of  things  be,  with  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States.  A  power  in  a  State 


312  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   DUES 

Court  to  determine  finally  a  question  of  the  con- 
struction of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
as  affecting  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States 
Courts,  would  subordinate  and  practically  destroy 
the  Federal  judiciary. 

The  grant  of  the  power  to  hear  and  determine 
suits  involving  specific  subjects,  or  between  par- 
ticular persons,  carries  the  power  to  determine 
whether  those  subjects  are  involved  in  the  case 
presented,  and  whether  the  parties  are  of  the 
classes  described.  It  is  expressly  written  that 
"  the  judges  in  every  State  "  shall  be  bound  by 
the  Constitution  and  the  laws  made  in  pursuance 
of  it,  "  anything  in  the  Constitution  or  laws  of  any 
State  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding."  Briefly 
and  generally,  then,  this  is  the  "  judicial  power  of 
the  United  States  " — to  hear  and  determine  finally 
such  cases,  and  only  such,  as  the  Constitution  com- 
mits to  the  courts  of  the  United  States,  and  ex  ne- 
cessitate, to  decide  whether  each  case  as  it  is  pre- 
sented is  within  the  grant  of  judicial  power. 

Political  questions  are  left  by  the  Constitution 
to  the  political  departments — namely,  the  Congress 
win  not  try  po-  an<^  ^e  President ;  and  the  Supreme 

Meal  questions.       Court  ^  n()t  congider  them>       Chief_ 

Justice  Marshall  said  :  "  Questions  in  their  nature 
political,  or  which  are  by  the  Constitution  and 
laws  submitted  to  the  Executive,  can  never  be 


THE  JUDICIARY  313 

made  in  this  court."  Political  questions  are  such 
as  the  recognition  of  the  sovereignty  of  another 
nation  and  of  its  territorial  limits,  the  recognition 
of  a  particular  organization  as  the  true  Govern- 
ment of  a  State,  or  the  determination  by  the  Pres- 
ident when  called  upon  to  aid  in  suppressing  a 
domestic  insurrection  in  a  State,  as  to  which  is  the 
lawful  Government,  etc. 


CHAPTEE  XXI 

THE  JUDICIAKY  (CONTINUED) 

CREATION  OF  SUPREME  COURT — NUMBER  or  JUSTICES— JAY  AND 
MARSHALL — TENURE — GOWNS  AND  WIGS — SCOPE  OF  FEDERAL 
JURISDICTION — RULE  IN  CONSTRUCTION  OF  STATE  LAWS — 
ORIGINAL  JURISDICTION  OF  SUPREME  COURT— CIRCUIT  AND 
DISTRICT  COURTS  —  CIRCUIT  COURTS  OF  APPEALS  —  COURT 
OF  CLAIMS — HIGH  CHARACTER  OF  FEDERAL  JUDGES. 

BEFOBE  proceeding  to  particularize  as  to  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  courts,  let  us  see  how  they  are 
creation  of  su-  constituted.  The  Constitution  estab- 

'    P^ine  Court.       lisheg   Qne    CQUrt    only_namelV)    the 

Supreme  Court — and  that  not  fully,  for  it  does  not 
fix  the  number  of  justices  that  shall  compose  the 
court.  That  is  left  to  Congress — unwisely,  for  it 
weakens  the  stability  and  detracts  from  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  Court.  If  political  interests  are  in- 
volved in  a  decision,  and  the  decision  is  adverse  to 
the  party  in  power,  the  suggestion  that  a  reversal 
Number,  of  JHB-  maJ  be  secured  by  increasing  the 
number  of  the  justices  is  very  tempt- 
ing to  partisans,  but  its  frequent  use  will  be  de- 
structive, fatally  so,  to  our  constitutional  union. 
It  may  be  said  that  the  Convention  could  not 

anticipate  the  increase  of  the  business  to  come  be- 

314 


THE  JUDICIARY  315 

fore  the  Court  and  provide  a  bench  for  all  time. 
But  it  would  have  been  always  practicable  to  pro- 
vide for  an  increased  amount  of  litigation  by  limit- 
ing the  appeals  and  creating  inferior  appellate 
courts  to  decide  cases  of  lesser  importance,  as  has 
now  been  done,  or  by  increasing  the  number  of 
justices  by  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution.  If  it 
be  said  that  the  latter  method  is  slow  and  difficult 
it  may  be  answered  that  all  changes  in  the  consti- 
tution of  the  Supreme  Court  ought  to  be  slow  and 
difficult.  It  is  to  be  borne  in  mind,  also,  that  an 
increase  in  the  number  of  justices  only  a  little  ex- 
pedites business.  No  case  ought  to  come  to  the 
Court  that  is  not  of  sufficient  importance  to  de- 
mand the  attention  of  all  the  justices.  And  if  all 
the  justices  sit  in  all  cases  and  participate  in  the 
decision  of  them,  as  they  have  always  done,  and 
should  do,  an  added  justice  only  becomes  an  aid 
in  despatching  business  when  the  opinion  is  to  be 
written  ;  and  much  of  this  gain  in  time  may  have 
been  lost  in  more  protracted  discussion  in  the  con- 
sultation-room . 

The  Judiciary  Act  of  1789,  which  gave  the  Court 
its  organization,  provided  for  a  Chief-Justice  and 
five  Associate  Justices.  John  Jay  Judiclary  Act  of 
was  the  first  Chief-Justice,  and  his  im  Six  JU8tices 
associates,  as  first  named  and  confirmed,  were  John 
Eutledge,  James  Wilson,  William  Cushing,  Robert 


316  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

H.  Harrison,  and  John  Blair.  Harrison  was,  about 
the  same  time,  chosen  Chancellor  of  Maryland. 
He  accepted  the  latter  office  and  returned  his  com- 
mission as  Associate  Justice.  James  Iredell  was 
appointed  in  his  place.  The  Court  was  first 
opened  for  the  transaction  of  business  February  2, 
1790. 

Of  John  Jay,  Mr.  Webster  said  :  "  When  the 
spotless  ermine  of  the  judicial  robe 

Jay  and  Marshall.      •"• 

fell  upon  John  Jay  it  touched  noth- 
ing less  spotless  than  itself." 

The  most  distinguished  of  Jay's  successors  as 
Chief-Justice  was  John  Marshall.  Of  him,  Mr. 
Bryce  says : 

ft/  V 

Yet  one  man  was  so  singularly  fitted  for  the  office  of 
Chief- Justice,  and  rendered  such  incomparable  services 
in  it,  that  the  Americans  have  been  wont  to  regard  him 
as  a  special  gift  of  favoring  Providence.  This  was  John 
Marshall,  who  presided  over  the  Supreme  Court  from 
1801  till  his  death  in  1835,  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven, 
and  whose  fame  overtops  that  of  all  other  American 
judges  more  than  Papinian  overtops  the  jurists  of  Rome, 
or  Lord  Mansfield  the  jurists  of  England.  No  other  man 
did  half  so  much  either  to  develop  the  Constitution  by 
expounding  it,  or  to  secure  for  the  judiciary  its  rightful 
place  in  the  Government  as  the  living  voice  of  the  Con- 
stitution. No  one  vindicated  more  strenuously  the  duty 
of  the  Court  to  establish  the  authority  of  the  fundamen- 
tal law  of  the  land,  no  one  abstained  more  scrupulously 


THE  JUDICIARY  317 

from  trespassing  on  the  field  of  executive  administration 
or  political  controversy.  The  admiration  and  respect 
which  he  and  his  colleagues  won  for  the  Court  remain 
its  bulwark  :  the  traditions  which  were  formed  under 
him  and  them  have  continued  in  general  to  guide  the 
action  and  elevate  the  sentiments  of  their  successors. ' 

And  again  : 

He  grasped  with  extraordinary  force  and  clearness  the 
cardinal  idea  that  the  creation  of  a  National  Government 
implies  the  grant  of  all  such  subsidiary  powers  as  are 
requisite  to  the  effectuation  of  its  main  powers  and  pur- 
poses, but  he  developed  and  applied  this  idea  with  so 
much  prudence  and  sobriety,  never  treading  on  purely 
political  ground,  never  indulging  the  temptation  to  the- 
orize, but  content  to  follow  out  as  a  lawyer  the  conse- 
quences of  legal  principles,  that  the  Constitution  seemed 
not  so  much  to  rise  under  his  hands  to  its  full  stature, 
as  to  be  gradually  unveiled  by  him  till  it  stood  revealed 
in  the  harmonious  perfection  of  the  form  which  its 
framers  had  designed. s 

The  Court  is  now  composed  of  nine  Justices. 
The  Chief-Justice  presides,  and  receives  a  salary 
of  $10,500  per  annum.  The  Associate  Now  ^^  JU8. 
Justices  receive  $10,000.  The  jus-  tice8' 

tices  are  appointed  by  the  President  and  con- 
firmed by  the  Senate,  as  are  all  the  judges  of 
the  inferior  United  States  Courts.  In  the  Con- 
vention the  Virginia  plan  was  that  Congress 

1  Bryce  :  The  American  Commonwealth,  vol.  i.,  p.  261. 
«  Ibid.,  p.  375. 


318  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

should  appoint  them.  Mr.  Madison  suggested  that 
the  Senate  should  appoint,  and  Mr.  Wilson  was 
for  their  appointment  by  the  President.  The 
Convention  finally  agreed  unanimously  to  the  pro- 
vision as  it  stands. 

The  justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  and  all  the 
judges  of  the  lower  United  States  Courts  hold 

Tenure  and  retire-    their    °fficeS>    as    W6    Commonly    Say, 

for  life.  The  Constitution  says  : 
"Shall  hold  their  offices  during  good  behavior." 
They  can  be  removed  from  office  only  by  the 
process  of  impeachment.  In  England  a  judge  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  Judicature  may  be  removed 
by  the  Crown  upon  the  request  of  both  houses  of 
Parliament.  There  is  no  age  limit  of  service,  and 
Congress  has  no  power  to  prescribe  one.  But  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  age  does  incapacitate,  that  its 
incapacity  extends  to  all  active  labor,  and  that  a 
judge  might  hold  on  to  his  office  after  he  was  in- 
capacitated by  age  if  no  provision  were  made  by 
law  for  his  support,  Congress  passed  a  law  provid- 
ing that  any  justice  or  judge  who  has  served  ten 
years,  and  has  reached  the  age  of  seventy,  may 
voluntarily  retire,  and  shall  receive  the  full  salary 
of  the  office  during  life. 

There  has  been  much  discussion  as  to  the  proper 
tenure  for  the  judicial  office,  and  the  tendency,  as 
expressed  in  the  later  State  Constitutions,  has  been 


THE  JUDICIAKY  319 

in  favor  of  limited  terms.  The  earlier  State  Con- 
stitutions generally  gave  the  appointment  of  the 
judges  to  the  Governor  or  to  the  Leg-  Judlcial  term8  in 
islature,but  along  with  the  demand  for 
limited  terms  for  the  judges,  came  another  for  their 
election  by  the  people,  and  in  a  majority  of  the 
States  they  are  now  nominated  in  the  party  conven- 
tions and  elected  by  popular  vote,  just  as  a  governor 
or  sheriff  is  chosen.  Neither  of  these  changes  is 
a  reform.  Limited  terms,  if  they  are  long,  may 
be  supported  by  many  considerations ;  but  short 
terms,  combined  with  popular  elections,  have  not 
secured  as  high  a  judicial  standard  as  prevailed 
before.  A  judge  who  must  go  at  short  intervals 
before  a  political  convention  for  a  nomination,  and 
before  the  people  for  an  election,  cannot  have  the 
same  sense  of  independence  and  security  that  he 
would  have  if  his  term  were  long  or  during  good 
behavior.  The  judicial  office  should  be  so  organ- 
ized that  men  of  the  best  abilities  and  attainments 
will  enter  it  as  a  career,  and  give  their  lives  and 
their  ambitions  wholly  to  it. 

When   the   constitutional    organization   of    the 
Court  had  been  settled  and  the  high  duty  of  select- 
ing the  justices  had  been  performed 
by  Washington,  the  smaller,  but  not 
wholly    unimportant,    question   of    a   court-dress 
loomed  up,  and  much  agitated  and  divided   the 


320  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

minds  of  our  public  men.  Shall  the  justices  wear 
gowns  ?  And  if  yea,  the  gown  of  the  scholar,  of 
the  Roman  senator,  or  of  the  priest?  Shall  they 
wear  the  wig  of  the  English  judges?  Jefferson 
and  Hamilton,  who  had  differed  so  widely  in  their 
views  as  to  the  frame  of  the  Government,  were 
again  in  opposition  upon  these  questions  relating 
to  millinery  and  hair-dressing.  Jefferson  was 
against  any  needless  official  apparel,  but  if  the 
gown  was  to  carry,  he  said  :  "  For  Heaven's  sake 
discard  the  monstrous  wig  which  makes  the  Eng- 
lish judges  look  like  rats  peeping  through  bunches 
of  oakum."  Hamilton  was  for  the  English  wig 
with  the  English  gown.  Burr  was  for  the  English 
gown  but  against  the  "  inverted  wool-sack  termed  a 
wig."  The  English  gown  was  taken  and  the  wig 
left,  and  all  who  see  the  Court  in  session  will  agree 
that  the  flowing  black  silk  gowns  worn  by  the  jus- 
tices help  to  preserve  in  the  court-room  that  de- 
corum and  sense  of  solemnity  which  should  always 
characterize  the  place  of  judgment. 

It  would  not  be  profitable  to  go  into  great  detail 
as  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States  Courts. 
cases  of  Federal  MJ  readers  will  only  desire  to  know 
lon'  what  general  classes  of  cases  are  tried 
in  the  United  States  Courts,  and  to  have  a  general 
view  of  the  lines  that  separate  between  the  United 
States  Courts  and  the  courts  of  the  States. 


THE   JUDICIARY  321 

Section  2  of  Article  3  of  the  Constitution  de- 
clares that  the  "judicial  power,"  vested  by  the 
preceding  section  in  the  Supreme  Court,  and  in 
such  inferior  courts  as  the  Congress  may,  from 
time  to  time,  ordain  and  establish,  "  shall  extend 
to  all  cases,  in  law  and  equity,  arising  under  this 
Constitution,  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and 
treaties  made,  or  which  shall  be  made,  under  their 
authority ;  to  all  cases  affecting  Ambassadors, 
other  public  Ministers  and  Consuls  ;  to  all  cases 
of  admiralty  and  maritime  jurisdiction  ;  to  con- 
troversies to  which  the  United  States  shall  be  a 
party ;  to  controversies  between  two  or  more 
States  ;  between  a  State  and  citizens  of  another 
State  ;  between  citizens  of  different  States ;  be- 
tween citizens  of  the  same  State  claiming  lands 
under  grants  of  different  States,  and  between  a 
State,  or  the  citizens  thereof,  and  foreign  States, 
citizens  or  subjects." 

If  you  will  give  this  section  a  second  reading  you 
will  see  that  these  general  principles  control :  First, 
the  construction  and  application  of  the  Constitution 
and  laws  of  the  United  States  must,  for  the  rea- 
sons already  suggested,  be  left  to  the  courts  of  the 
United  States.  Second,  as  the  representatives  of 
foreign  powers  are  accredited  to  the  United  States 
and  may  not  treat  with  the  State  authorities  in  auy 

way,  and  as  the  United  States  must  be  answerable 
21 


322  THIS   COUNTRY   OF   OURS 

for  any  injury  or  indignity  to  such  representatives, 
cases  affecting  them  must  be  tried  by  the  courts 
of  the  United  States.  Third,  as  the  regulation 
of  foreign  commerce  and  commerce  between  the 
States  is  given  to  Congress,  and  as  maritime  and 
admiralty  cases  may  affect  international  relations, 
and  the  decisions  in  such  cases  should  be  stable 
and  uniform,  only  the  courts  of  the  United  States 
can  appropriately  deal  with  such  questions.  Fourth, 
the  United  States  cannot  permit  the  courts  of  an- 
other sovereignty  to  try  cases  for  or  against  it — its 
own  courts  must  obviously  determine  such  cases. 
Fifth,  in  cases  where  the  State  courts  might  be, 
or  might  be  supposed  to  be,  subject  to  bias  by 
reason  of  the  interest  of  the  State  or  of  its  citi- 
zens in  the  controversy,  to  the  possible  prejudice 
of  another  State  or  of  its  citizens,  or  of  a  foreign 
State  or  its  citizens,  the  courts  of  the  United 
States  can  give  a  hearing  with  greater  assurance 
of  impartiality,  and,  therefore,  such  persons  should 
have  the  privilege,  if  they  choose  to  exercise  it,  to 
bring  their  suits,  if  they  are  plaintiffs,  in  the 
United  States  Courts,  or  to  remove  them  to  those 
courts,  if  they  are  sued  in  the  State  courts. 

A  citizen  of  New  York  may  sue  a  citizen  of  Ohio 
in  the  State  courts  of  Ohio,  but  if  he  prefers, 
may  sue  in  the  United  States  Court  for  the  proper 
Ohio  district.  The  election  is  with  him,  if  the 


THE  JUDICIARY  323 

jurisdiction  of  the  United  States  Court  depends 
solely  upon  the  fact  that  he  is  a  citizen  of  one  State 
and  the  defendant  of  another.  But  Diverse  citizen- 

•<•       i     .     •  n     i          «  -n    i        i  ship.  Federal 

if  what  is  called  ax1  ederal  ques-  question. 
tion  "  is  involved — that  is,  a  question  arising  under 
the  Constitution  or  laws  of  the  United  States 
—then  the  citizenship  of  the  parties  does  not  mat- 
ter, for  the  subject  of  the  suit  gives  the  United 
States  Courts  jurisdiction.  If  the  parties  do  not 
in  the  beginning  of  such  a  suit,  or  by  the  removal 
of  it  after  it  is  brought,  seek  the  proper  United 
States  Court,  the  State  court  may  proceed  to  try 
the  "  Federal  question,"  but  after  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  State  has  passed  upon  it  the  case  may 
be  taken  by  writ  of  error  to  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States  for  a  final  determination.  The 
United  States  Courts,  in  the  trial  of  cases,  must 
often  construe  and  apply  the  consti-  Must  construe 

r      J  State     laws— The 

tution  and  statutes  of  a  State ;  and  mie. 
out  of  this  power  some  conflict  has  occurred.  The 
rule  adopted  by  the  United  States  Courts,  with  its 
exceptions,  is  comprehensively  stated  by  Justice 
Bradley,  in  Burgess  v.  Seligman  (107  U.  S.,  20), 
thus : 

The  Federal  courts  have  an  independent  jurisdiction 
in  the  administration  of  State  laws,  co-ordinate  with, 
and  not  subordinate  to,  that  of  the  State  courts,  and 
are  bound  to  exercise  their  own  judgment  as  to  the 


324  THIS   COUNTRY    OF   OURS 

meaning  and  effect  of  those  laws.  The  existence  of  two 
co-ordinate  jurisdictions  in  the  same  territory  is  pe- 
culiar, and  the  results  would  be  anomalous  and  incon- 
venient, but  for  the  exercise  of  mutual  respect  and 
deference.  Since  the  ordinary  administration  of  the 
law  is  carried  on  by  the  State  courts,  it  necessarily  hap- 
pens that  by  the  course  of  their  decisions  certain  rules 
are  established  which  become  rules  of  property  and 
action  in  the  State,  and  have  all  the  effect  of  law,  and 
which  it  would  be  wrong  to  disturb.  This  is  especially 
true  with  regard  to  the  law  of  real  estate,  and  the  con- 
struction of  State  constitutions  and  statutes.  Such  es- 
tablished rules  are  always  regarded  by  the  Federal  courts, 
no  less  than  by  the  State  courts  themselves,  as  author- 
itative declarations  of  what  the  law  is.  But  when  the 
law  has  not  been  thus  settled,  it  is  the  right  and  duty 
of  the  federal  courts  to  exercise  their  own  judgment ;  as 
they  also  always  do  in  reference  to  the  doctrines  of  com- 
mercial law  and  general  jurisprudence.  So,  when  con- 
tracts and  transactions  have  been  entered  into,  and 
rights  have  accrued  thereon  under  a  particular  state  of 
the  decisions,  or  when  there  has  been  no  decision,  of 
the  State  tribunals,  the  Federal  courts  properly  claim 
the  right  to  adopt  their  own  interpretation  of  the  law 
applicable  to  the  case,  although  a  different  interpreta- 
tion may  be  adopted  by  the  State  courts,  after  such  rights 
have  accrued.  But  even  in  such  cases,  for  the  sake  of 
harmony  and  to  avoid  confusion,  the  Federal  courts  will 
lean  toward  an  agreement  of  views  with  the  State  courts 
if  the  question  seems  to  them  balanced  with  doubt. 

In  a  case  involving  the  constitutionality  of  a  tax 
law  of  Ohio,  under   the   State   Constitution,   the 


THE   JUDICIARY  325 

United  States  Court  for  the  Sixth  Circuit  held  the 
law  unconstitutional.  Afterward  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  State  upheld  the  law,  and  the  United 
States  Court  reversed  its  ruling  and  followed  the 
State  court.  No  contract  rights  were  involved. 

The  Supreme  Court  has  original  jurisdiction  of 
"  all  cases  affecting  Ambassadors,  other  public 
Ministers  and  Consuls,  and  those  in  original  juris- 
which  a  State  shall  be  a  party."  That  preme  court. 
is,  these  cases  may  be  begun  in  the  Supreme 
Court.  Other  cases  that  reach  the  Supreme  Court 
come,  by  appeal  or  writ  of  error,  from  one  of  the 
inferior  courts  of  the  United  States  or  from  the 
Supreme  Court  of  a  State. 

The  Constitution  gives  to  Congress,  as  we  have 
seen,  the  power  to  institute  such  "  inferior  "  courts 
as  may  be  necessary.  The  general  ^^  and  Dig 
system  adopted  by  Congress  estab-  trict  Courts- 
lishes  the  District  Courts,  the  Circuit  Courts,  and 
the  Circuit  Courts  of  Appeals,  the  latter  having 
been  recently  created.  There  are  other  special 
courts,  such  as  the  Court  of  Claims,  the  Courts  of 
the  District  of  Columbia,  etc.  The  District  Court 
is  composed  of  a  single  judge,  and  the  district  of 
the  whole  or  a  specified  part  of  a  State.  There  is 
generally  one  district  judge  for  each  district,  but 
to  this  rule  there  is  an  exception  or  two,  there 
being  now  sixty-eight  districts  and  sixty-five  dis- 


326  THIS   COUNTRY   OF  OUES 

trict  judges.  When  the  courts  were  first  insti- 
tuted (1789)  there  were  thirteen  districts.  In  1801 
provision  was  made  for  dividing  the  districts  into 
six  circuits,  and  for  the  appointment  of  three  cir- 
cuit judges  each  for  five  of  them.  In  the  follow- 
ing year  this  law  was  repealed,  and  a  law  enacted 
establishing  six  circuits,  the  courts  to  be  held  by 
one  of  the  justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  and  the 
District  Judge. 

In  1837  the  number  of  the  associate  justices  of 

the  Supreme  Court  was  increased  from  five  (the 

changes  in  original  number)  to  eight,  and  nine 

number   of    Jus-     ~.         ..  ,    ,  ,.   ,       ,  ,. 

tfces.  Circuits    were   established — one   tor 

each  associate  justice  and  one  for  the  Chief- Justice. 
In  1863  an  additional  associate  justice  was  pro- 
vided for,  and  ten  circuits  were  established,  the 
policy  having  generally  been  to  have  as  many  cir- 
cuits as  there  were  justices  of  the  Supreme  Court— 
the  Chief -Justice  and  each  associate  justice  being 
assigned  to  a  particular  circuit— and  to  have  the 
justices  sit  in  the  Circuit  Courts  when  their  other 
duties  would  permit.  In  1866  the  number  of  as- 
sociate justices  was  reduced  to  six,  and  in  1869 
was  increased  to  eight.  There  were  no  circuit 
judges  until  1869,  when  one  was  provided  for  each 
circuit ;  the  Circuit  Coiirt  being  before  held  by  the 
district  judges,  and  an  associate  justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court  when  he  could  be  present.  And 


327 

even  now  a  large  part  of  the  business  of  the  Cir- 
cuit Courts  is  transacted  by  the  district  judges 
sitting  alone.  The  exact  division  in  jurisdiction 
between  the  District  and  Circuit  Courts  of  the 
United  States  cannot  be  briefly  stated,  but  it  will 
be  enough  to  say  that  the  Circuit  Court  has  juris- 
diction generally  of  cases  in  law  and  equity,  cogniz- 
able in  the  United  States  Courts,  where  the  amount 
involved,  exclusive  of  interest  and  costs,  is  $2,000. 
It  also  has  a  criminal  jurisdiction.  The  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  District  Courts  chiefly  embraces  criminal 
cases,  admiralty  cases,  bankruptcy  proceedings, 
suits  for  penalties,  and  the  like. 

In  1891  Circuit  Courts  of  Appeals  were  estab- 
lished. The  law  provides  for  the  appointment  of 
an  additional  circuit  judge  in  each  amat  Court8 
judicial  circuit,  and  creates  a  Court  of  Appeaie. 
of  Appeals,  to  consist  of  three  judges.  The  Jus- 
tice of  the  Supreme  Court  assigned  to  each  circuit, 
and  the  Circuit  and  District  Judges  of  each  circuit 
are  made  competent  to  sit  as  judges  in  the  new 
court,  the  Justice  presiding,  or  in  his  absence 
the  senior  Circuit  Judge.  The  judge  who  tried 
the  case  below  is  made  incompetent  to  sit  in  the 
hearing  of  the  appeal.  This  court  was  insti- 
tuted to  relieve  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  from  an  accumulation  of  business  that 
rendered  the  prompt  decision  of  cases  impossible. 


328  THIS   COUNTEY   OF   OUKS 

An  appeal  or  writ  of  error  direct  from  the  Circuit 
Court  or  District  Court  to  the  Supreme  Court  is 
reserved  in  cases  involving  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
court,  final  sentences  in  prize  cases,  convictions  of 
a  capital  or  other  infamous  crime,  cases  involving 
the  construction  or  application  of  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  or  in  which  the  constitu- 
tionality of  a  law  of  the  United  States,  or  of  a 
treaty,  is  drawn  in  question,  and  cases  in  which 
the  Constitution  or  laws  of  a  State  are  claimed  to 
be  in  contravention  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States.  The  Circuit  Court  of  Appeals  is 
given  jurisdiction  of  other  appeals.  Decisions  of 
the  Circuit  Court  of  Appeals  are  made  final  in  cer- 
tain cases,  in  others  an  appeal  is  allowed  to  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  and  the  Su- 
preme Court  may  order  any  case  pending  in  the 
Court  of  Appeals  to  be  certified  to  it  for  a  hearing. 

The  Court  of  Claims  was  established  in  1855, 
and  consists  of  a  chief -justice  and  four  judges. 

The  court  of  It  sits  at  Washington  and  holds  one 
term  each  year,  beginning  on  the  first 
Monday  of  December  and  continuing  as  long  as 
the  business  may  require.  The  judges  receive  an 
annual  salary  of  $4,500,  and  hold  office  during  good 
behavior.  The  jurisdiction  of  the  court,  speaking 
generally,  extends  to  the  hearing  of  claims  against 
the  United  States — pension  claims,  war  claims,  and 


THE   JUDICIARY  329 

claims  before  rejected,  being  excluded — in  cases 
not  sounding  in  tort,  where  the  party  would  be  en- 
titled to  redress  against  the  United  States,  either 
in  a  court  of  law,  equity,  or  admiralty — "  if  the 
United  States  were  suable."  The  United  States 
is  not  "  suable  "  unless  by  law  it  consents  to  be 
sued.  Before  the  establishment  of  the  Court  of 
Claims,  Congress  was  burdened  by  the  necessary 
consideration  of  vast  numbers  of  private  claims  for 
the  settlement  and  payment  of  which  by  the  de- 
partments no  provision  had  been  made.  In  some 
cases  the  Court  of  Claims  is  authorized  to  enter  a 
judgment — after  finding  the  facts  specially — and  in 
other  cases,  referred  to  the  Court  by  Congress  or  by 
one  of  the  departments,  a  finding  of  facts  only  is 
made.  Judgments  of  the  court  cannot,  of  course, 
be  paid  until  Congress  appropriates  money  for 
their  payment.  The  French  Spoliation  claims, 
and  the  Indian  Depredation  claims  —  each  class 
involving  very  numerous  claims  and  very  large 
sums  of  money  in  the  aggregate — have  been  sent 
to  the  Court  of  Claims  for  adjudication.  Appeals 
are  allowed  to  the  Supreme  Court  from  the  deci- 
sions of  the  Court  of  Claims. 

The  judges  of  the  United  States  Courts  have, 
with  rare  exception,  been  men  of  excellent  legal 
ability  and  of  high  character.  The  bar  has  some- 
times complained  that  judges  were  arbitrary,  and 


330  THIS    COUNTRY    OF    OUES 

not  always  as  suave  and  respectful  in  their  treat- 
ment of  the  members  of  the  bar  as  they  ought  to 

mgh  character  of  be-  Perhaps  there  has  been,  in  par 
Federal  judgeB.  ticular  c^e^  ground  for  such  com- 
plaints, but  the  cases  have  been  few.  Manifesta- 
tions of  rudeness  and  passion  are  inexcusable  in  a 
judge.  He  must  be  deferential  if  he  expects  def- 
erence. He  should  be  patient  and  even-tempered, 
for  the  case  is  sure  to  go  his  way  in  his  own  court. 
And,  on  the  other  hand,  the  bar  should  always 
give  its  powerful  aid  to  support  the  influence  of 
the  courts,  for  the  Judicial  Department  is  the 
"  keystone  "  of  our  Government,  and  assaults  upon 
it  threaten  the  whole  structure  of  the  stately  arch. 


APPENDIX 

CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

WE  the  People  of  the  United  States,  in  order  to  form  a  more 
perfect  Union,  establish  justice,  insure  domestic  tranquillity, 
provide  for  the  common  defence,  promote  the  general  welfare, 
and  secure  the  hlessings  of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  pos- 
terity, do  ordain  and  establish  this  CONSTITUTION  for  the 
United  States  of  America. 

ARTICLE  I. 

SECTION  1.  All  legislative  powers  herein  granted  shall  be 
vested  in  a  Congress  of  the  United  States,  which  shall  consist 
of  a  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives. 

SECTION  2.  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  be  composed 
of  members  chosen  every  second  year  by  the  people  of  the  sev- 
eral States,  and  the  electors  in  each  State  shall  have  the  quali- 
fications requisite  for  electors  of  the  most  numerous  branch  of 
the  State  Legislature. 

No  person  shall  be  a  Representative  who  shall  not  have 
attained  to  the  age  of  twenty-five  years,  and  been  seven  years 
a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  who  shall  not,  when  elected, 
be  an  inhabitant  of  that  State  in  which  he  shall  be  chosen. 

Representatives  and  direct  taxes  shall  be  apportioned  among 
the  several  States  which  may  be  included  within  this  Union, 
according  to  their  respective  numbers,  which  shall  be  deter- 
mined by  adding  to  the  whole  number  of  free  persons,  includ- 
ing those  bound  to  service  for  a  term  of  years,  and  excluding 
Indians  not  taxed,  three-fifths  of  all  other  persons.  The  actual 
enumeration  shall  be  made  within  three  years  after  the  first 
meeting  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  within  every 
subsequent  term  of  ten  years,  in  such  manner  as  they  shall  by 
law  direct.  The  number  of  Representatives  shall  not  exceed 
one  for  every  thirty  thousand,  but  each  State  shall  have  at 
least  one  Representative  ;  and  until  such  enumeration  shall  be 
made,  the  State  of  New  Hampshire  shall  be  entitled  to  choose 

331 


332  APPENDIX 

three;  Massachusetts  eight;  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plan- 
tations one;  Connecticut  five;  New  York  six;  New  Jersey  four; 
Pennsylvania  eight;  Delaware  one;  Maryland  six;  Virginia  ten; 
North  Carolina  five  ;  South  Carolina  five,  and  Georgia  three. 

When  vacancies  happen  in  the  representation  from  any  State, 
the  Executive  Authority  thereof  shall  issue  writs  of  election  to 
fill  such  vacancies. 

The  House  of  Representatives  shall  choose  their  Speaker  and 
other  officers  ;  and  shall  have  the  sole  power  of  impeachment. 

SECTION  3.  The  Senate  of  the  United  States  shall  be  com- 
posed of  two  Senators  from  each  State,  chosen  by  the  Legis- 
lature thereof,  for  six  years  ;  and  each  Senator  shall  have  one 
vote. 

Immediately  after  they  shall  be  assembled  in  consequence  of 
the  first  election,  they  shall  be  divided  as  equally  as  may  be 
into  three  classes.  The  seats  of  the  Senators  of  the  first  class 
shall  be  vacated  at  the  expiration  of  the  second  year,  of  the 
second  class  at  the  expiration  of  the  fourth  year,  and  of  the 
third  class  at  the  expiration  of  the  sixth  year /so  that  one-third 
may  be  chosen  every  second  year  ;  and  if  vacancies  happen  by 
resignation,  or  otherwise,  during  the  recess  of  the  Legislature 
of  any  State,  the  Executive  thereof  may  make  temporary 
appointments  until  the  next  meeting  of  the  Legislature,  which 
shall  then  fill  such  vacancies. 

No  person  shall  be  a  Senator  who  shall  not  have  attained  to 
the  age  of  thirty  years,  and  been  nine  years  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  and  who  shall  not,  when  elected,  be  an  inhabi- 
tant of  that  State  for  which  he  shall  be  chosen. 

The  Vice-President  of  the  United  States  shall  be  President  of 
the  Senate,  but  shall  have  no  vote,  unless  they  be  equally 
divided. 

The  Senate  shall  choose  their  other  officers,  and  also  a 
President  pro  tempore,  in  the  absence  of  the  Vice-President,  or 
when  he  shall  exercise  the  office  of  President  of  the  United 
States. 

The  Senate  shall  have  the  sole  power  to  try  all  impeach- 
ments. When  sitting  for  that  purpose,  they  shall  be  on  oath 
or  affirmation.  When  the  President  of  the  United  States  is 
tried,  the  Chief  Justice  shall  preside  ;  and  no  person  shall  be 
convicted  without  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds  of  the  mem- 
bers present. 

Judgment  in  cases  of  impeachment  shall  not  extend  further 
than  to  removal  from  office,  and  disqualification  to  hold  and 
enjoy  any  office  of  honor,  trust  or  profit  under  the  United 
States  ;  but  the  party  convicted  shall  nevertheless  be  liable 
and  subject  to  indictment,  trial,  judgment  and  punishment, 
according  to  law. 


APPENDIX  333 

SECTION  4.  The  times,  places  and  manner  of  holding  elec- 
tions for  Senators  and  Representatives,  shall  be  prescribed  in 
each  State  by  the  Legislature  thereof ;  but  the  Congress  may 
at  any  time  by  law  make  or  alter  such  regulations,  except  as  to 
the  places  of  choosing  Senators. 

The  Congress  shall  assemble  at  least  once  in  every  year,  and 
such  meeting  shall  be  on  the  first  Monday  in  December,  unless 
they  shall  by  law  appoint  a  different  day. 

SECTION  5.  Each  House  shall  be  the  judge  of  the  elections, 
returns  and  qualifications  of  its  own  members,  and  a  ma- 
jority of  each  shall  constitute  a  quorum  to  do  business  ;  but 
a  smaller  number  may  adjourn  from  day  to  day,  and  may  be 
authorized  to  compel  the  attendance  of  absent  members,  in 
such  manner,  and  under  such  penalties  as  each  House  may 
provide. 

Each  House  may  determine  the  rules  of  its  proceedings, 
punish  its  members  for  disorderly  behavior,  and,  with  the 
concurrence  of  two-thirds,  expel  a  member. 

Each  House  shall  keep  a  journal  of  its  proceedings,  and 
from  time  to  time  publish  the  same,  excepting  such  parts  as 
may  in  their  judgment  require  secrecy  ;  and  the  yeas  and  nays 
of  the  members  of  either  House  on  any  question  shall,  at  the 
desire  of  one-fifth  of  those  present,  be  entered  on  the  Journal. 

Neither  House,  during  the  session  of  Congress,  shall,  with- 
out the  consent  of  the  other,  adjourn  for  more  than  three  days, 
nor  to  any  other  place  than  that  in  which  the  two  Houses  shall 
be  sitting. 

SECTION  6.  The  Senators  and  Representatives  shall  receive 
a  compensation  for  their  services,  to  be  ascertained  by  law, 
and  paid  out  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States.  They  shall 
in  all  cases,  except  treason,  felony  and  breach  of  the  peace,  be 
privileged  from  arrest  during  their  attendance  at  the  session  of 
their  respective  Houses,  and  in  going  to  and  returning  from 
the  same  ;  and  for  any  speech  or  debate  in  either  House,  they 
shall  not  be  questioned  in  any  other  place. 

No  Senator  or  Representative  shall,  during  the  time  for 
which  he  was  elected,  be  appointed  to  any  civil  office  under 
the  authority  of  the  United  States,  which  shall  have  been 
created,  or  the  emoluments  whereof  shall  have  been  in- 
creased during  such  time  ;  and  no  person  holding  any  office 
under  the  United  States,  shall  be  a  member  of  either  House 
during  his  continuance  in  office. 

SECTION  7.  All  bills  for  raising  revenue  shall  originate  in 
the  House  of  Representatives  ;  but  the  Senate  may  propose  or 
concur  with  amendments  as  on  other  bills. 

Every  bill  which  shall  have  passed  the  House  of  Represent- 
atives and  the  Senate,  shall,  before  it  become  a  law,  be  pre- 


334  APPENDIX 

sented  to  the  President  of  the  United  States  ;  if  he  approve  he 
shall  sign  it,  but  if  not  he  shall  return  it,  with  his  objections 
to  that  House  in  which  it  shall  have  originated,  who  shall 
enter  the  objections  at  large  on  their  journal,  and  proceed  to 
reconsider  it.  If  after  such  reconsideration  two-thirds  of  that 
House  shall  agree  to  pass  the  bill,  it  shall  be  sent,  together 
with  the  objections,  to  the  other  House,  by  which  it  shall  like- 
wise be  reconsidered,  and  if  approved  by  two-thirds  of  that 
House,  it  shall  become  a  law.  But  in  all  such  cases  the  votes 
of  both  Houses  shall  be  determined  by  yeas  and  nays,  and  the 
names  of  the  persons  voting  for  and  against  the  bill  shall  be 
entered  on  the  journal  of  each  House  respectively.  If  any  bill 
shall  not  be  returned  by  the  President  within  ten  days  (Sun- 
days excepted)  after  it  shall  have  been  presented  to  him,  the 
same  shall  be  a  law,  in  like  manner  as  if  he  had  signed  it, 
unless  the  Congress  by  their  adjournment  prevent  its  return, 
in  which  case  it  shall  not  be  a  law. 

Every  order,  resolution,  or  vote  to  which  the  concurrence  of 
the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  may  be  necessary 
(except  on  a  question  of  adjournment)  shall  be  presented  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States  ;  and  before  the  same  shall 
take  effect,  shall  be  approved  by  him,  or  being  disapproved  by 
him,  shall  be  repassed  by  two-thirds  of  the  Senate  and  House 
of  Representatives,  according  to  the  rules  and  limitations  pre- 
scribed in  the  case  of  a  bill. 

SECTION  8.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  lay  and  col- 
lect taxes,  duties,  imposts  and  excises,  to  pay  the  debts  and 
provide  for  the  common  defence  and  general  welfare  of  the 
United  States  ;  but  all  duties,  imposts  and  excises  shall  be 
uniform  throughout  the  United  States  ; 

To  borrow  money  on  the  credit  of  the  United  States  ; 

To  regulate  commerce  with  foreign  nations,  and  among  the 
several  States,  and  with  the  Indian  tribes  ; 

To  establish  an  uniform  rule  of  naturalization,  and  uniform 
laws  on  the  subject  of  bankruptcies  throughout  the  United 
States ; 

To  coin  money,  regulate  the  value  thereof,  and  of  foreign 
coin,  and  fix  the  standard  of  weights  and  measures ; 

To  provide  for  the  punishment  of  counterfeiting  the  securi- 
ties and  current  coin  of  the  United  States ; 

To  establish  post-offices  and  post-roads  ; 

To  promote  the  progress  of  science  and  useful  arts,  by  secur- 
ing for  limited  times  to  authors  and  inventors  the  exclusive 
right  to  their  respective  writings  and  discoveries ; 

To  constitute  tribunals  inferior  to  the  Supreme  Court ; 

To  define  and  punish  piracies  and  felonies  committed  on  the 
high  seas,  and  offences  against  the  law  of  nations  ; 


APPENDIX  335 

To  declare  war,  grant  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal,  and 
make  rules  concerning  captures  on  land  and  water ; 

To  raise  and  support  armies,  but  no  appropriation  of  money 
to  that  use  shall  be  for  a  longer  term  than  two  years ; 

To  provide  and  maintain  a  navy  ; 

To  make  rules  for  the  government  and  regulation  of  the  land 
and  naval  forces ; 

To  provide  for  calling  forth  the  militia  to  execute  the  laws 
of  the  Union,  suppress  insurrections  and  repel  invasions  ; 

To  provide  for  organizing,  arming,  and  disciplining,  the 
militia,  and  for  governing  such  part  of  them  as  may  be  em- 
ployed in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  reserving  to  the 
States  respectively,  the  appointment  of  the  officers,  and  the 
authority  of  training  the  militia  according  to  the  discipline  pre- 
scribed by  Congress  ; 

To  exercise  exclusive  legislation  in  all  cases  whatsoever,  over 
such  district  (not  exceeding  ten  miles  square)  as  may,  by  ces- 
sion of  particular  States,  and  the  acceptance  of  Congress,  be- 
come the  seat  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  and  to 
exercise  like  authority  over  all  places  purchased  by  the  con- 
sent of  the  Legislature  of  the  State  in  which  the  same  shall  be, 
for  the  erection  of  forts,  magazines,  arsenals,  dry-docks,  and 
other  needful  buildings  ; — And 

To  make  all  laws  which  shall  be  necessary  and  proper  for 
carrying  into  execution  the  foregoing  powers,  and  all  other 
powers  vested  by  this  Constitution  in  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  or  in  any  department  or  officer  thereof. 

SECTION  9.  The  migration  or  importation  of  such  persons  as 
any  of  the  States  now  existing  shall  think  proper  to  admit,  shall 
not  be  prohibited  by  the  Congress  prior  to  the  year  one  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  eight,  but  a  tax  or  duty  may  be  im- 
posed on  such  importation,  not  exceeding  ten  dollars  for  each 
person. 

The  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  not  be  sus- 
pended, unless  when  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion  the  pub- 
lic safety  may  require  it. 

No  bill  of  attainder  or  ex  post  facto  law  shall  be  passed. 

No  capitation,  or  other  direct,  tax  shall  be  laid,  unless  in  pro- 
portion to  the  census  or  enumeration  hereinbefore  directed  to 
be  taken. 

No  tax  or  duty  shall  be  laid  on  articles  exported  from  any 
State. 

No  preference  shall  be  given  by  any  regulation  of  commerce 
or  revenue  to  the  ports  of  one  State  over  those  of  another  ;  nor 
shall  vessels  bound  to,  or  from,  one  State,  be  obliged  to  enter, 
clear,  or  pay  duties  in  another. 

No  money  shall  be  drawn  from  the  Treasury,  but  in  con- 


336  APPENDIX 

sequence  of  appropriations  made  by  law  ;  and  a  regular  state- 
ment and  account  of  the  receipts  and  expenditures  of  all  public 
money  shall  be  published  from  time  to  time. 

No  title  of  nobility  shall  be  granted  by  the  United  States. 
And  no  person  holding  any  office  of  profit  or  trust  under  them, 
shall,  without  the  consent  of  the  Congress,  accept  of  any  pres- 
ent, emolument,  office,  or  title,  of  any  kind  whatever,  from 
any  king,  prince,  or  foreign  state. 

SECTION  10.  No  State  shall  enter  into  any  treaty,  alliance, 
or  confederation ;  grant  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal ;  coin 
money ;  emit  bills  of  credit ;  make  anything  but  gold  and 
silver  coin  a  tender  in  payment  of  debts  ;  pass  any  bill  of  at- 
tainder, ex  post  facto  law,  or  law  impairing  the  obligation  of 
contracts,  or  grant  any  title  of  nobility. 

No  State  shall,  without  the  consent  of  the  Congress,  lay  any 
imposts  or  duties  on  imports  or  exports,  except  what  may  be 
absolutely  necessary  for  executing  its  inspection  laws  ;  and  the 
net  produce  of  all  duties  and  imposts,  laid  by  any  State  on  im- 
ports or  exports,  shall  be  for  the  use  of  the  Treasury  of  the 
United  States  ;  and  all  such  laws  shall  be  subject  to  the  revision 
and  control  of  the  Congress. 

No  State  shall,  without  the  consent  of  Congress,  lay  any 
duty  of  tonnage,  keep  troops,  or  ships  of  war  in  time  of  peace, 
enter  into  any  agreement  or  compact  with  another  State,  or 
with  a  foreign  power,  or  engage  in  war,  unless  actually  in- 
vaded, or  in  such  imminent  danger  as  will  not  admit  of  delay. 


ARTICLE  II. 

SECTION  1.  The  executive  power  shall  be  vested  in  a  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  of  America.  He  shall  hold  his  office 
during  the  term  of  four  years,  and,  together  with  the  Vice- 
President,  chosen  for  the  same  term,  be  elected,  as  follows : 

Each  State  shall  appoint,  in  such  manner  as  the  Legislature 
thereof  may  direct,  a  number  of  electors,  equal  to  the  whole 
number  of  Senators  and  Representatives  to  which  the  State 
may  be  entitled  in  the  Congress  ;  but  no  Senator  or  Represent- 
ative, or  person  holding  an  office  of  trust  or  profit  under  the 
United  States,  shall  be  appointed  an  elector. 

[The  electors  shall  meet  in  their  respective  States,  and  vote 
by  ballot  for  two  persons,  of  whom  one  at  least  shall  not  be 
an  inhabitant  of  the  same  State  with  themselves.  And  they 
shall  make  a  list  of  all  the  persons  voted  for,  and  of  the  num- 
ber of  votes  for  each,  which  list  they  shall  sign  and  certify, 
and  transmit  sealed  to  the  seat  of  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  directed  to  the  President  of  the  Senate.  The  President 


APPENDIX  337 

of  the  Senate  shall,  in  the  presence  of  the  Senate  and  House  of 
Representatives,  open  all  the  certificates,  and  the  votes  shall 
then  be  counted.  The  person  having  the  greatest  number  of 
votes  shall  be  the  President,  if  such  number  be  a  majority  of 
the  whole  number  of  electors  appointed,  and  if  there  be  more 
than  one  who  have  such  majority,  and  have  an  equal  number 
of  votes,  then  the  House  of  Representatives  shall  immediately 
choose  by  ballot  one  of  them  for  President ;  and  if  no  person 
have  a  majority,  then  from  the  five  highest  on  the  list  the  said 
House  shall  in  like  manner  choose  the  President.  But  in 
choosing  the  President,  the  votes  shall  be  taken  by  States,  the 
representation  from  each  State  having  one  vote ;  a  quorum  for 
this  purpose  shall  consist  of  a  member  or  members  from  two- 
thirds  of  the  States,  and  a  majority  of  all  the  States  shall  be 
necessary  to  a  choice.  In  every  case,  after  the  choice  of  the 
President,  the  person  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes  of 
the  electors  shall  be  the  Vice-President.  But  if  there  should 
remain  two  or  more  who  have  equal  votes,  the  Senate  shall 
choose  from  them  by  ballot  the  Vice-President.]  * 

The  Congress  may  determine  the  time  of  choosing  the  elec- 
tors, and  the  day  on  which  they  shall  give  their  votes  ;  which 
day  shall  be  the  same  throughout  the  United  States. 

No  person  except  a  natural  born  citizen,  or  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  this  Constitu- 
tion, shall  be  eligible  to  the  office  of  President ;  neither  shall 
any  person  be  eligible  to  that  office  who  shall  not  have  attained 
to  the  age  of  thirty-five  years,  and  been  fourteen  years  a  resi- 
dent within  the  United  States. 

In  case  of  the  removal  of  the  President  from  office,  or  of  his 
death,  resignation,  or  inability  to  discharge  the  powers  and  du- 
ties of  the  said  office,  the  same  shall  devolve  on  the  Vice- 
President,  and  the  Congress  may  by  law  provide  for  the  case 
of  removal,  death,  resignation,  or  inability,  both  of  the  Presi- 
dent and  Vice-President,  declaring  what  officer  shall  then  act 
as  President,  and  such  officer  shall  act  accordingly,  until  the 
disability  be  removed,  or  a  President  shall  be  elected. 

The  President  shall,  at  stated  times,  receive  for  his  services, 
a  compensation,  which  shall  neither  be  increased  nor  dimin- 
ished during  the  period  for  which  he  shall  have  been  elected, 
and  he  shall  not  receive  within  that  period  any  other  emolu- 
ment from  the  United  States,  or  any  of  them. 

Before  he  enter  on  the  execution  of  his  office,  he  shall  take 
the  following  oath  or  affirmation  : 

"  I  do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm)  that  I  will  faithfully  exe- 
cute the  office  of  President  of  the  United  States,  and  will  to 

*  This  clause  is  superseded  by  Article  XII.,  Amendments. 


338  APPENDIX 

the  best  of  my  ability,  preserve,  protect  and  defend  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States." 

SECTION  2.  The  President  shall  be  Commander-in-Chief  of 
the  Army  and  Navy  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  militia 
of  the  several  States,  when  called  into  the  actual  service  of  the 
United  States  ;  he  may  require  the  opinion,  in  writing,  of  the 
principal  officer  in  each  of  the  executive  departments,  upon  any 
subject  relating  to  the  duties  of  their  respective  offices,  and 
he  shall  have  power  to  grant  reprieves  and  pardons  for  offences 
against  the  United  States,  except  in  cases  of  impeachment. 

He  shall  have  power,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of 
the  Senate,  to  make  treaties,  provided  two-thirds  of  the  Sena- 
tors present  concur  ;  and  he  shall  nominate,  and  by  and  with 
the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  shall  appoint  ambassa- 
dors, other  public  ministers  and  consuls,  judges  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  and  all  other  officers  of  the  United  States,  whose  appoint- 
ments are  not  herein  otherwise  provided  for,  and  which  shall 
be  established  by  law  ;  but  the  Congress  may  by  law  vest  the 
appointment  of  such  inferior  officers,  as  they  think  proper,  in 
the  President  alone,  in  the  courts  of  law,  or  in  the  heads  of  de- 
partments. 

The  President  shall  have  power  to  fill  up  all  vacancies  that 
may  happen  during  the  recess  of  the  Senate,  by  granting  com- 
missions which  shall  expire  at  the  end  of  their  next  session. 

SECTION  3.  He  shall  from  time  to  time  give  to  the  Congress 
information  of  the  state  of  the  Union,  and  recommend  to 
their  consideration  such  measures  as  he  shall  judge  necessary 
and  expedient ;  he  may,  on  extraordinary  occasions,  convene 
both  Houses,  or  either  of  them,  and,  in  case  of  disagreement 
between  them,  with  respect  to  the  time  of  adjournment,  he  may 
adjourn  them  to  such  time  as  he  shall  think  proper  ;  he  shall 
receive  ambassadors  and  other  public  ministers  ;  he  shall  take 
care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully  executed,  and  shall  commis- 
sion all  the  officers  of  the  United  States. 

SECTION  4.  The  President,  Vice-President,  and  all  civil  offi- 
cers of  the  United  States,  shall  be  removed  from  office  on 
impeachment  for,  and  conviction  of,  treason,  bribery,  or  other 
high  crimes  and  misdemeanors. 


ARTICLE  III. 

SECTION  1.  The  judicial  power  of  the  United  States,  shall 
be  vested  in  one  Supreme  Court,  and  in  such  inferior  courts 
as  the  Congress  may  from  time  to  time  ordain  and  establish. 
The  judges,  both  of  the  Supreme  and  inferior  courts,  shall 
hold  their  offices  during  good  behavior,  and  shall,  at  stated 


APPENDIX  339 

times,  receive  for  their  services,  a  compensation,  which  shall 
not  be  diminished  during  their  continuance  in  office. 

SECTION  2.  The  judicial  power  shall  extend  to  all  cases,  in 
law  and  equity,  arising  under  this  Constitution,  the  laws  of 
the  United  States,  and  treaties  made,  or  which  shall  be  made, 
under  their  authority  ;  to  all  cases  affecting  ambassadors,  other 
public  ministers  and  consuls ;  to  all  cases  of  admiralty  and 
maritime  jurisdiction  ;  to  controversies  to  which  the  United 
States  shall  be  a  party  ;  to  controversies  between  two  or  more 
States  ;  between  a  State  and  citizens  of  another  State  ;  be- 
tween citizens  of  different  States  ;  between  citizens  of  the  same 
State  claiming  lands  under  grants  of  different  States,  and 
between  a  State,  or  the  citizens  thereof,  and  foreign  States, 
citizens  or  subjects. 

In  all  cases  affecting  ambassadors,  other  public  ministers  and 
consuls,  and  those  in  which  a  State  shall  be  party,  the  Supreme 
Court  shall  have  original  jurisdiction.  In  all  the  other  cases 
before-mentioned,  the  Supreme  Court  shall  have  appellate  juris- 
diction, both  as  to  law  and  fact,  with  such  exceptions,  and 
under  such  regulations  as  the  Congress  shall  make. 

The  trial  of  all  crimes,  except  in  cases  of  impeachment,  shall 
be  by  jury  ;  and  such  trial  shall  be  held  in  the  State  where 
the  said  crimes  shall  have  been  committed  ;  but  when  not  com- 
mitted within  any  State,  the  trial  shall  be  at  such  place  or 
places  as  the  Congress  may  by  law  have  directed. 

SECTION  3.  Treason  against  the  United  States,  shall  con- 
sist only  in  levying  war  against  them,  or  in  adhering  to  their 
enemies,  giving  them  aid  and  comfort.  No  person  shall  be 
convicted  of  treason  unless  on  the  testimony  of  two  witnesses 
to  the  same  overt  act,  or  oil  confession  in  open  court. 

The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  declare  the  punishment  of 
treason,  but  no  attainder  of  treason  shall  work  corruption  of 
blood,  or  forfeiture  except  during  the  life  of  the  person  at- 
tainted. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

SECTION  1.  Full  faith  and  credit  shall  be  given  in  each 
State  to  the  public  acts,  records,  and  judicial  proceedings 
of  every  other  State.  And  the  Congress  may  by  general 
laws  prescribe  the  manner  in  which  such  acts,  records  and 
proceedings  shall  be  proved,  and  the  effect  thereof. 

SECTION  2.  The  citizens  of  each  State  shall  be  entitled  to 
all  privileges  and  immunities  of  citizens  in  the  several  States. 

A  person  charged  in  any  State  with  treason,  felony,  or  other 
crime,  who  shall  flee  from  justice,  and  be  found  in  another 
State,  shall,  on  demand  of  the  executive  authority  of  the  State 


340  APPENDIX 

from  which  he  fled,  be  delivered  up  to  be  removed  to  the  State 
having  jurisdiction  of  the  crime. 

No  person  held  to  service  or  labor  in  one  State,  under  the 
laws  thereof,  escaping  into  another,  shall,  in  consequence  of 
any  law  or  regulation  therein,  be  discharged  from  such  service 
or  labor,  but  shall  be  delivered  up  on  claim  of  the  party  to 
whom  such  service  or  labor  may  be  due. 

SECTION  3.  New  States  may  be  admitted  by  the  Congress 
into  this  Union  ;  but  no  new  State  shall  be  formed  or  erected 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  any  other  State ;  nor  any  State  be 
formed  by  the  junction  of  two  or  more  States,  or  parts  of 
States,  without  the  consent  of  the  Legislatures  of  the  States 
concerned  as  well  as  of  the  Congress. 

The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  dispose  of  and  make  all 
needful  rules  and  regulations  respecting  the  territory  or  other 
property  belonging  to  the  United  States  ;  and  nothing  in  this 
Constitution  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  prejudice  any  claims 
of  the  United  States,  or  of  any  particular  State. 

SECTION  4.  The  United  States  shall  guarantee  to  every 
State  in  this  Union  a  republican  form  of  government,  and 
shall  protect  each  of  them  against  invasion  ;  and  on  application 
of  the  Legislature,  or  of  the  Executive  (when  the  Legislature 
cannot  be  convened)  against  domestic  violence. 

ARTICLE  V. 

The  Congress,  whenever  two-thirds  of  both  Houses  shall 
deem  it  necessary,  shall  propose  amendments  to  this  Constitu- 
tion, or,  on  the  application  of  the  Legislatures  of  two-thirds  of 
the  several  States,  shall  call  a  convention  for  proposing  amend- 
ments, which,  in  either  case,  shall  be  valid  to  all  intents  and 
purposes,  as  part  of  this  Constitution,  when  ratified  by  the 
Legislatures  of  three-fourths  of  the  several  States,  or  by  con- 
ventions in  three-fourths  thereof,  as  the  one  or  the  other  mode 
of  ratification  may  be  proposed  by  the  Congress  ;  Provided  that 
no  amendment  which  may  be  made  prior  to  the  year  one  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  eight  shall  in  any  manner  affect  the 
first  and  fourth  clauses  in  the  Ninth  Section  of  the  First  Arti- 
cle ;  and  that  no  State,  without  its  consent,  shall  be  deprived 
of  its  equal  suffrage  in  the  Senate. 

ARTICLE  VI. 

All  debts  contracted  and  engagements  entered  into,  before 
the  adoption  of  this  Constitution,  shall  be  as  valid  against 
the  United  States  under  this  Constitution,  as  under  the  Con- 
federation. 


APPENDIX  341 

This  Constitution,  and  the  laws  of  the  United  States  which 
shall  be  made  in  pursuance  thereof  ;  and  all  treaties  made,  or 
which  shall  be  made,  under  the  authority  of  the  United  States, 
shall  be  the  supreme  law  of  the  land  ;  and  the  judges  in  every 
State  shall  be  bound  thereby,  anything  in  the  Constitution  or 
laws  of  any  State  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

The  Senators  and  Representatives  before  mentioned,  and 
the  members  of  the  several  State  Legislatures,  and  all  execu- 
tive and  judicial  officers,  both  of  the  United  States  and  of  the 
several  States,  shall  be  bound  by  oath  or  affirmation,  to  support 
this  Constitution  ;  but  no  religious  test  shall  ever  be  required 
as  a  qualification  to  any  office  or  public  trust  under  the  United 
States. 

ARTICLE  VII. 

The  ratification  of  the  Conventions  of  nine  States,  shall  be 
sufficient  for  the  establishment  of  this  Constitution  between 
the  States  so  ratifying  the  same. 


AMENDMENTS  TO  THE  CONSTITUTION 


ARTICLE  I. 

Congress  shall  make  no  law  respecting  an  establishment  of 
religion,  or  prohibiting  the  free  exercise  thereof  ;  or  abridging 
the  freedom  of  speech,  or  of  the  press  ;  or  the  right  of  the 
people  peaceably  to  assemble,  and  to  petition  the  Government 
for  a  redress  of  grievances. 


ARTICLE  II. 

A  well-regulated  militia,  being  necessary  to  the  security  of 
a  free  State,  the  right  of  the  people  to  keep  and  bear  arms, 
shall  not  be  infringed. 

ARTICLE  III. 

No  soldier  shall,  in  time  of  peace,  be  quartered  in  any  house, 
without  the  consent  of  the  owner,  nor  in  time  of  war,  but  in  a 
manner  to  be  prescribed  by  law. 


342  APPENDIX 


ARTICLE  IV. 

The  right  of  the  people  to  be  secure  in  their  persons,  houses, 
papers,  and  effects,  against  unreasonable  searches  and  seiz- 
ures, shall  not  be  violated,  and  no  warrants  shall  issue,  but 
upon  probable  cause,  supported  by  oath  or  affirmation,  and 
particularly  describing  the  place  to  be  searched,  and  the  per- 
sons or  things  to  be  seized. 


ARTICLE  V. 

No  person  shall  be  held  to  answer  for  a  capital,  or  otherwise 
infamous  crime,  unless  on  a  presentment  or  indictment  of  a 
grand  jury,  except  in  cases  arising  in  the  land  or  naval  forces, 
or  in  the  militia,  when  in  actual  service  in  time  of  war  or 
public  danger  ;  nor  shall  any  person  be  subject  for  the  same 
offence  to  be  twice  put  in  jeopardy  of  life  or  limb  ;  nor  shall 
be  compelled  in  any  criminal  case  to  be  a  witness  against  him- 
self, nor  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty,  or  property,  without  due 
process  of  law  ;  nor  shall  private  property  be  taken  for  public 
use,  without  just  compensation. 


ARTICLE  VI. 

In  all  criminal  prosecutions,  the  accused  shall  enjoy  the 
right  to  a  speedy  and  public  trial,  by  an  impartial  jury  of  the 
State  and  district  wherein  the  crime  shall  have  been  com- 
mitted, which  district  shall  have  been  previously  ascertained 
by  law,  and  to  be  informed  of  the  nature  and  cause  of  the  ac- 
cusation ;  to  be  confronted  with  the  witnesses  against  him  ;  to 
have  compulsory  process  for  obtaining  witnesses  in  his  favor, 
and  to  have  the  assistance  of  counsel  for  his  defence. 


ARTICLE  VII. 

In  suits  at  common  law,  where  the  value  in  controversy 
shall  exceed  twenty  dollars,  the  right  of  trial  by  jury  shall  be 
preserved,  and  no  fact  tried  by  a  jury  shall  be  otherwise  re- 
examined  in  any  court  of  the  United  States,  than  according  to 
the  rules  of  the  common  law. 


APPENDIX  343 


ARTICLE  VIII. 

Excessive  bail  shall  not  be  required,  nor  excessive  fines  im- 
posed, nor  cruel  and  unusual  punishments  inflicted. 

ARTICLE  IX. 

The  enumeration  in  the  Constitution,  of  certain  rights,  shall 
not  be  construed  to  deny  or  disparage  others  retained  by  the 
people. 

ARTICLE   X. 

The  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Con- 
stitution, nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to 
the  States  respectively,  or  to  the  people. 

ARTICLE  XI. 

The  judicial  power  of  the  United  States  shall  not  be  con- 
strued to  extend  to  any  suit  in  law  or  equity,  commenced  or 
prosecuted  against  one  of  the  United  States  by  citizens  of 
another  State,  or  by  citizens  or  subjects  of  any  foreign  State. 


ARTICLE  XII. 

The  electors  shall  meet  in  their  respective  States,  and  vote 
by  ballot  for  President  and  Vice-President,  one  of  whom,  at 
least,  shall  not  be  an  inhabitant  of  the  same  State  with  them- 
selves ;  they  shall  name  in  their  ballots  the  person  voted  for  as 
President,  and  in  distinct  ballots  the  person  voted  for  as  Vice- 
President,  and  they  shall  make  distinct  lists  of  all  persons  voted 
for  as  President,  and  of  all  persons  voted  for  as  Vice-President, 
and  of  the  number  of  votes  for  each,  which  list  they  shall  sign 
and  certify,  and  transmit  sealed  to  the  seat  of  the  government 
of  the  United  States,  directed  to  the  President  of  Ihe  Senate ; 
The  President  of  the  Senate  shall,  in  the  presence  of  the  Sen- 
ate and  House  of  Representatives,  open  all  the  certificates  and 
the  votes  shall  then  be  counted  ;  The  person  having  the  great- 
est number  of  votes  for  President,  shall  be  the  President,  if 
such  number  be  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  electors 
appointed  ;  and  if  no  person  have  such  majority,  then  from 
the  persons  having  the  highest  numbers  not  exceeding  three 
on  the  list  of  those  voted  for  as  President,  the  House  of  Rep- 


344  APPENDIX 

resentatives  shall  choose  immediately,  by  ballot,  the  President. 
But  in  choosing  the  President,  the  votes  shall  be  taken  by 
States,  the  representation  from  each  State  having  one  vote  ;  a 
quorum  for  this  purpose  shall  consist  of  a  member  or  mem- 
bers from  two-thirds  of  the  States,  and  a  majority  of  all  the 
States  shall  be  necessary  to  a  choice.  And  if  the  House  of 
Representatives  shall  not  choose  a  President  whenever  the 
right  of  choice  shall  devolve  upon  them,  before  the  fourth  day 
of  March  next  following,  then  the  Vice-President  shall  act  as 
President,  as  in  the  case  of  the  death  or  other  constitutional 
disability  of  the  President.  The  person  having  the  greatest 
number  of  votes  as  Vice-President  shall  be  the  Vice-President, 
if  such  number  be  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  electors 
appointed,  and  if  no  person  have  a  majority,  then  from  the 
two  highest  numbers  on  the  list,  the  Senate  shall  choose  the 
Vice-President ;  a  quorum  for  the  purpose  shall  consist  of 
two-thirds  of  the  whole  number  of  Senators,  and  a  majority  of 
the  whole  number  shall  be  necessary  to  a  choice.  But  no 
person  constitutionally  ineligible  to  the  office  of  President  shall 
be  eligible  to  that  of  Vice-President  of  the  United  States. 


ARTICLE   XIII. 

SECTION  1.  Neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude,  ex- 
cept as  a  punishment  for  crime  whereof  the  party  shall  have 
been  duly  convicted,  shall  exist  within  the  United  States,  or 
any  place  subject  to  their  jurisdiction. 

SECTION  2.  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this 
article  by  appropriate  legislation. 


ARTICLE  XIV. 

SECTION  1.  All  persons  born  or  naturalized  in  the  United 
States,  and  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  thereof,  are  citizens  of 
the  United  States  and  of  the  State  wherein  they  reside.  No 
State  shall  make  or  enforce  any  law  which  shall  abridge  the 
privileges  or  immunities  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  ;  nor 
shall  any  State  deprive  any  person  of  life,  liberty,  or  property, 
without  due  process  of  law  ;  nor  deny  to  any  person  within 
its  jurisdiction  the  equal  protection  of  the  laws. 

SECTION  2.  Representatives  shall  be  apportioned  among 
the  several  States  according  to  their  respective  numbers,  count- 
ing the  whole  number  of  persons  in  each  State,  excluding  Ind- 
ians not  taxed.  But  when  the  right  to  vote  at  any  election 
for  the  choice  of  electors  for  President  and  Vice-President  of 


APPENDIX  346 

the  United  States,  Representatives  in  Congress,  the  executive 
and  judicial  officers  of  a  State,  or  the  members  of  the  Legis- 
lature thereof,  is  denied  to  any  of  the  male  inhabitants  of  such 
State,  being  twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  or  in  any  way  abridged,  except  for  participation 
in  rebellion,  or  other  crime,  the  basis  of  representation  therein 
shall  be  reduced  in  the  proportion  which  the  number  of  such 
male  citizens  shall  bear  to  the  whole  number  of  male  citizens 
twenty-one  years  of  age  in  such  State. 

SECTION  3.  No  person  shall  be  a  Senator  or  Representative 
in  Congress,  or  elector  of  President  and  Vice-President,  or 
holding  any  office,  civil  or  military,  under  the  United  States, 
or  under  any  State,  who,  having  previously  taken  an  oath,  as 
a  member  of  Congress,  or  as  an  officer  of  the  United  States,  or 
as  a  member  of  any  State  Legislature,  or  as  an  executive  or 
judicial  officer  of  any  State,  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  shall  have  engaged  in  insurrection  or  rebellion 
against  the  same,  or  given  aid  or  comfort  to  the  enemies  there- 
of. But  Congress  may  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds  of  each  House, 
remove  such  disability. 

SECTION  4.  The  validity  of  the  public  debt  of  the  United 
States,  authorized  by  law,  including  debts  incurred  for  pay- 
ment of  pensions  and  bounties  for  services  in  suppressing  in- 
surrection or  rebellion,  shall  not  be  questioned.  But  neither 
the  United  States  nor  any  State  shall  assume  or  pay  any  debt 
or  obligation  incurred  in  aid  of  insurrection  or  rebellion 
against  the  United  States,  or  any  claim  for  the  loss  or  emanci- 
pation of  any  slave  ;  but  all  such  debts,  obligations  and  claims 
shall  be  held  illegal  and  void. 

SECTION  5.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce,  by 
appropriate  legislation,  the  provisions  of  this  article. 


ARTICLE  XV. 

SECTION  1.  The  right  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to 
vote  shall  not  be  denied  or  abridged  by  the  United  States  or 
by  any  State  on  account  of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition 
of  servitude. 

SECTION  2.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this 
article  by  appropriate  legislation. 


INDEX 


ACADEMY, 

Military,  228,  329 

Naval,  264,  265 
ADAMS,  JOHN  QUINCY, 

Elected  President  by  the  House, 

83 

Admission  of  new  States,  276, 277 
AGRICULTURE,  DEPARTMENT  OF, 

An  executive  department,  289 

Secretary  of,  289 

Meats,  inspection  of,  289 

Organization,  290 

Reports,  291 

Weather  Bureau,  291 
ALIENS, 

Protection  of,  121-123 

New  Orleans  lynching,  121 
ALLOTMENTS, 

Of  lands  to  Indians,  172 
AMBASSADORS  AND  MINISTERS, 

Receptions  of,  192-194 

Rank  of,  194,  195 

Salaries  of,  196 

Politics  should  be  left  at  home, 

199 

AMENDMENTS  OF  THE  CONSTI- 
TUTION, 

How  adopted,  3 

Number  of,  4 

Eleventh,  307 

Twelfth,  82 

Thirteenth  and  fourteenth,  22 

Fifteenth,  33 


Amnesty  (see  PARDON),  142,  143 
APPOINTMENTS, 

Presidential,  99,  103,  107,  110, 
167-170,  228,  264 

Minor  officials,  1 00 

Recess  of  Senate,  103 

Civil  Service,  99,  111,  297 

Congressional  influence,  108 

Office-seekers,  110,  111,  167 

Applications  for,  167,  168 

How  made,  169 

Commissions,  signing  of,  170 

Military  cadets,  228 

Naval  cadets,  264 
APPORTIONMENT, 

Based  on  census,  21 
APPRENTICES, 

Naval,  259 
APPROPRIATION  BILLS, 

Estimates  for,  58 

Committee  on,  58 

Originate  in  the  House,  61 

Riders,  131 

Items  cannot  be  vetoed,  132 
Arbitration,  226,  255 
Architect,  The  supervising,  218 
ARMY, 

President,  commander  of,  124 

Use  of,  125,  229 

Arms,  224,  229 

Jealousy  of,  226 

Number  and  organization,  227, 

229 
Arsenals,  225 


347 


348 


INDEX 


A  TTORNEY-GENERAL, 

Consulted  as  to  bills,  128 
Salary,  186,  230 
Duties  of,  331 
Ayes  and  Noes,  50 


Bank  examiners,  215 
BELKNAP,  WILLIAM  W., 

Impeachment  of,  157 
BILLS, 

Introduction  and  reference  in 
Senate,  55 

Introduction  and  reference  in 
House,  56 

Numbers  of,  56 

Amendments,  56 

Signing  by  presiding  officers, 
57 

Examination  and  approval  of, 
57,  126-131, 170 

Revenue  and  appropriation,  58, 
61,  131,  132 

Pail  at  end  of  Congress,  59 

Veto  of,  126-132 

Riders,  131 
Bond  sales,  205,  206 
BRADLEY,  MR.  JUSTICE, 

Powers  of  United  States,  115, 

116 

British  Parliament,  10 
BRYCE,  JAMES, 

On  English  Constitution,  10 

On  impeachment,  150 

On  Chief-Justice  Marshall,  316 
BURR,  AARON, 

Election  as  Vice-President,  82 

C 

CABINET  OFFICERS, 
Not  independent,  70 


CABINET  OFFICERS, 

Relations  to  President,  71, 105, 
107,  169 

Succession  to  Presidency,  87, 
181 

Appointments,  100,  107 

Departments  organized,  104 

Not  a  ministry,  107 

Secretary  of    State,   head    of, 
182 

Salaries,  186 
CADETS, 

Military,  228,  229 

Naval,  264,  265 
CALHOUN,  JOHN, 

Election  as  Vice-President,  83 
Capitation  tax,  64 
CENSUS, 

Every  ten  years,  21,  279 

Slaves  counted  in,  22 

State  Department  had  charge 
of,  187 

Interior  Department  has  charge 
of,  187,  279,  280 

Scope  of,  280 

CHIEF   JUSTICE    OF    THE    SU- 
PREME COURT, 

Presides    on    impeachment  of 
President,  149 

Salary  of,  40,  317 
CIRCUIT  COURT  OF  APPEALS, 

Organization,  327 

Jurisdiction,  328 
Citizenship,  15 
CIVIL  SERVICE, 

Appointments,  99,  111,  297 

Commissioners,  296 

Classification  of  offices,  297 
CLERKS, 

Department,  110,  111,  188 

Executive  Mansion,  161 


INDEX 


349 


CLEVELAND,  GROVER, 
Controversy  with  Senate,  102 

"Wilson  Bill,"  129 
Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey,  219 
Coast  Defence,  225 
Coinage,  217 
COLONIES, 

Colonial  agents,  183 

Postal  service,  235-238 
COLUMBIA,  DISTRICT  OP, 

Seat  of  Government,  37 
COMMERCE, 

Regulation  of,  65 

Interruption  of,  67 

Protection  of,  119 
COMMITTEES, 

House,  44,  58 

Senate,  47,  58,  59,  100 

Conference,  56 

COMMUTATION  (see  PARDONS). 
COMPTROLLER, 

Of  the  Treasury,  210,  213 

Of  the  Currency,  214 
CONFEDERATION,  THE, 

Powers  of,  illusory,  6 

No  executive  department,  6 

Congress  of, 

A  laughing  stock,  7 
No  taxing  powers,  8 
Treaties  ineffectual,  8 
One  house,  17 
Voted  by  states,  19 

Foreign  affairs,  conduct  of,  184 

Livingston  and  Jay,  184-186 

Treasury  Department,  206-208 

Military  affairs,  221 

Postal  service,  238,  239 

Judicial  powers,  301,  302 
CONGRESS     OF     THE     UNITED 
STATES, 

Organized,  2,  37 


CONGRESS     OF     THE     UNITED 

STATES, 
Two  houses,  17 
Members  of,  20 
Pay,  39 
Mileage,  41 
Election  and  qualifications, 

43 

Privileged  from  arrest,  50 
Punished  or  expelled,  51 
Ineligible  to  certain  offices, 

51 
Senate,  20,  26 

Assembling    and    organiz- 
ing of,  51 
House,  20,  27 

Assembling    and    organiz- 
ing of,  53 
Times  and  place  of  meeting, 

35-37 

Adjournments,  36-38 
Special  sessions,  36 
Salary  grab,  39 
Secret  sessions,  41,  42 
Journal  must  be  kept,  41 
Contested  seats,  43 
Congressional  Record,  50 
Messages  between  Houses,  54 
Notice  to  President  of  organ- 
ization, 54 

Presentation  of  bills  and  peti- 
tions, 55,  56 
Bills,  55-59 
Powers  of,  59,  62 
Regulation  of  commerce,  65-67 
Declares  succession  to  Presi- 
dency, 86 
Relation  of,  to  appointments, 

108 

Last  hours  of  session,  130,  131 
Vetoes,  action  on,  134 


350 


INDEX 


CONGRESS     OP     THE     UNITED 

STATES, 
Treaties,  participation  iu,  134- 

141 

Pardoning  power,   cannot  re- 
strict, 143 
CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED 

STATES, 

Convention  to  frame,  1 
Ratification  of,  1 
Amendments  of,  3,  22,  307 
Deals  with  large  matters,  4 
Supreme  law,  11,  15 
Laws  in  conflict  with,  303-306 
Interpretation  of,  308,  309 
CONSTITUTIONAL     CONVENTION 

(DEBATES), 

Senators,  choice  of,  20 
Admission  of  new  states,  24 
Revenue    and    appropriations, 

59,60 

Executive  Department,  68,  69 
Veto,  127 

Treaty  making,  136,  137 
Pardoning  power,  143 
Impeachment,  152 
CONSULAR  SERVICE, 
Character  of,  196,  197 
Number  employed,  197 
Changes  in,  198 
Copyrights,  187 
COURTS, 

Attack  on  Justice  Field,  114 
Jurisdiction  of,  114,   119,  306, 

311,  320-325 

Protection  of  Judges,  118 
Protection  of  aliens,  121 
Claims,  Court  of,  232,  328 
Under  Confederation,  301 
Constitutionality  of  laws,  301- 

305 


COURTS, 

Supreme  Court,  303-325 
Judgments  final  as  to  parties, 

306 

Circuit  and  district,  325-327 
Circuit  Court  of  Appeals,  327, 

328 

COURTS  MARTIAL, 
Records  of,  examined  by  the 

President,  173 

D 

Debt  of  the  United  States,  209 
Delegates  from  Territories,  23 
DICKENS,  CHARLES, 

Visit  to  Executive  Mansion,  178 
DIPLOMATIC  CORRESPONDENCE, 

Under  Confederation,  184 

Conduct  of,  189 

President  consulted,  189 
May  draft  despatches,  190 

Jefferson's  practice,  189 
Direct  taxes,  63,  64. 
DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA, 

Seat  of  Government,  37 
Domestic  violence,  120 
Duties  on  imports,  62,  68 

E 

Education,  office  of,  287 
ELECTIONS, 

Of  Senators  and  Representa- 
tives, 20,  28 

Times,  and  manner  of,  28 
Congress  may  regulate,  29 
Supervision  of,  30 
Presidential,  75-80,  82,  83,  87- 
89 

Count  of  electoral  vote,  87 
Law  regulating,  88,  89 
Electoral  College,  75-80 


INDEX 


351 


Electoral  Commission,  S8 
ELECTORS, 

Of  Representatives,  27 
Qualifications    prescribed    by 

States,  27 

Of  President  and  Vice- Presi- 
dent, 74-83 
States  appoint,  74 
Number    and    manner    of 

choosing,  75-77 
Vote  sent  to  President  of 

Senate,  79 
Original  method  of  voting, 

79 

Twelfth  Amendment,  82 
Engineer  Corps,  224 
ENGLAND, 

No  written  Constitution,  2 
Parliament  of,  10 
Excise  taxes,  62,  63 
EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  THE, 

See  PRESIDENT. 
None  under  the  Confederation, 

7 

Debates  in  Convention,  68 
One  head,  68 
Relation  of  Cabinet,  70 
EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENTS, 
State,  181-201 
Treasury,  202-220 
War,  221-230 
Justice,  230-232 
Post  Office,  233-250 
Navy,  251-267 
Interior,  268-288 
Agriculture,  289-291 
EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
A  home  and  office,  159 
President's  office  and  desk,  160 
Office  force,  161 
Visitors,  166, 178 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
Grounds  and  rooms,  177, 178 
Charles  Dickens's  visit,  178 

F 

FIELD,  MR.  JUSTICE, 
Assault  on,  114,  118 

Fish  Commission,  298,  299 

FOREIGN  AFFAIRS, 

Under  Confederation,  184, 185 
President's   direction   of,    189, 

190 

Correspondence,  189-191,  195 
Congratulatory  letters,  191 
Ambassadors     and    Ministers, 

192-196,  199 
Consular  service,  198-199 

FRANKLIN,  BENJAMIN, 
Views  on  the  veto,  127 
Agent  of  the  Colonies,  183 
Postmaster     at    Philadelphia, 

237 
Postmaster-General,  237,  238 


G 

Geological  survey,  288 
GERRY,  ELBRIDGE, 
Proposition  to  limit  representa- 
tion of  new  states,  24 
"  Gerrymander,"  The,  31,  32 
GOLD, 

Bond  sales,  205,  206 
GOVERNORS  OF  STATES, 

Appoint  to  vacancies  in  Senate, 

33 

GRANT,  U.  S., 
Suggestion  of  Amendment  to 

Constitution,  131 
Guns,  224,  225,  254 


352 


INDEX 


Hamilton,  Alexander,  208,  209 
HARRISON,  WILLIAM  HENRY, 
Certificate  of  election  as  Presi- 
dent, 90 

HAYES,  RUTHERFORD  B., 
Cabinet's  relation  to  the  Presi- 
dent, 71 

Electoral  Commission,  88 
Vetoes  by,  132 
Henry,  Joseph,  293 
Homestead  law,  274 
HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES, 
Members  of,  20 

Election  and  terms,  20,  28, 

30-33,  37,  43 
Number  of,  20-25 
Qualifications,  26,  43 
Disability,  27 
Pay,  39 
Mileage,  41 

Apportionment,  basis  of,  21 
Rules,  26,  44,  52 
Vacancies,  33 
Secret  sessions,  42 
Contested  seats,  43 
Speaker,  26,  44-46,  86 
Quorum,  48,  49 
Yeas  and  nays,  50 
Organization    and    election  of 
officers,  53,  54 
Notice  of,  to  President  and 

Senate,  54 

Seats  assigned  by  lot,  55 
Introduction  and  reference  of 

bills,  56 
Revenue     and     appropriation 

bills,  58,  59 

Treaties,  participation  in,  136- 
141 


HOUSE  OP  REPRESENTATIVES, 
Impeachment,  power  of,  149 
Hydrographic  office,  263 


IMPEACHMENT, 

Pardon  does  not  extend  to,  143, 
151 

House  of  Representatives  pre- 
sents, 148,  149 

Senate  tries,  149 

Procedure,  149,  150 

Courts    may    further    punish, 
150,  151 

A  cumbrous  proceeding,  150 

Mr.  Bryce's  view,  160 

Suspension  pending  trial  pro- 
posed, 152 

Cases  of,  153-158 
INAUGURATION, 

Of  Washington,  2,  93 

Of  President,  92-95 

Of    Vice-President   as   Presi- 
dent, 96 
Income  tax,  65 
INDIANS, 

Relation  of,  to  the  President, 
172,  173 

Care  of,  281-283 

Treaties  with,  281-284 

Title  to  lands,  282 

Schools  for,  283 
Indian  Territory,  148,  283 
INTERIOR,  DEPARTMENT  OF, 

Establishment  of,  268 

Secretary  of,  268,  269 

Public  lands,  270-274 

General  land  office,  272 

Territories,  275-277 

Mining  laws,  278,  279 

Census,  187,  279 


INDEX 


363 


INTERIOR,  DEPARTMENT  OF, 

Indian  affairs,  380-283 

Pensions,  284-286 

Patents,  187,  386 

Education,  office  of,  287 

Railroads,  288 

Geological  survey,  288 
Internal  revenue,  216,  217 
Interstate    Commerce  Commis- 
gion,  295,  296 


Jay,  John,  186,  316 
JEFFERSON,  THOMAS, 

Elected   President  by  House, 

80,81 
Introduced  written  messages  to 

Congress,  95 

Secretary  of  State,  186,  189 
JOHNSON,  ANDREW, 

Impeachment  of,  154 
JOHNSON,  RICHARD  M., 
Elected  Vice-President  by  Sen- 
ate, 84 
JUDGES. 
Protection  of,  against  assault, 

114,  118 

Impeachment  of,  153-155 
Tenure  of  office,  318,  319 
Character  of,  339 
JUDICIAL  DEPARTMENT,  THE, 
Value  of,  300,  307,  308 
Constitutionality  of  laws,  301- 

302 
Under  the  Confederation,  301- 

302 

Under  the  Constitution,  303 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United 

States,  303,  304,  314-325 
State  Courts,  305 
Powers  of,  306,  307,  310-312 


JUDICIAL  DEPARTMENT,  THE, 
Powers  reserved  to  states,  311, 

313 

Political  questions,  312 
Circuit  and  District    Courts, 

335-328 

Court  of  Claims,  328,  329 
Judges,  329,  330 
JURISDICTION, 
Of  United  States  Courts,  114, 

320-328 

Federal  questions,  323,  324 
Original,    of    Supreme  Court, 

325 
Of  Circuit  and  District  Courts, 

325-327 

JUSTICE,  DEPARTMENT  OF, 
Established,  230 
Attorney  -  General,     128,    186, 

230,231 

Solicitor-General,  331 
Present  organization  and  work, 

231,232 
Pardons,  146 


Labor,  Department  of,  294 

LANDS  (see  PUBLIC  LANDS). 

LAWS, 
Constitutionality  of,    11,  301- 

305 
Enforcement  of,  by  President, 

98, 113, 114, 118 
Publication  of,  128,  129 
Supremacy  of,  135 
May  annul  a  treaty,  140 
Interpretation  of,  305 

LINCOLN,  ABRAHAM, 
First  inaugural  address,  93 
As  Commander-in-Chief,  124 
Views  on  pardoning  power,  143 


354 


INDEX 


LINCOLN,  ABRAHAM, 
Selection  of  Seward  as  Secre- 
tary of  State,  183 
Livingston,  Robert  R.,  184,  185 
LYNCHINGS  (see  INTRODUCTION, 

xviii-xx). 

Of  Italian  subjects  at  New  Or- 
leans, 121-123 

M 

MAILS  (see  POST  OFFICE  DE- 
PARTMENT). 
Marine  corps,  261,  262 
Marshall,  John,  316 
MARSHALS     OF    THE     UNITED 

STATES, 

Peace  officers,  113 
Defence  of  Justice  Field,  114 
Duties  of,  118 
Accounts  of,  172 
Meats,  inspection  of,  289 
MEMBERS    OF    CONGRESS    (see 

CONGRESS). 

Merchant  marine,  248,  249 
MESSAGES, 
Between  Houses  of  Congress, 

54 

To  the  President,  55 
From  the  President,  57, 129 
Annual,  of  the  President,  94- 

96 

Veto,  129 

Military  Academy,  228, 229 
Militia,  naval,  256 
MILLER,  MR.  JUSTICE, 

Powers  of  the  Government,  117 
MINING, 

Laws,  made  by  miners,  278 
Recognized    by   Congress, 

279 
Area  of  claim,  279 


Mint,  The,  217 

Mobs,  118 

Morris,  Robert,  208 

N 

National  Banks,  214,  215 
Naval  Academy,  264,  265 
Naval  Observatory,  263 
NAVY,  THE, 

President,  Commander  of,  124 

Merchant  vessels,  use  of,  248 

Renaissance  of,  251 

Monitors,  cruisers,  and  battle- 
ships, 252-255 

Gun-shop,  254 

Names  of  vessels,  255,  256 

Militia,  256 

Grades,  promotions,  and  retire- 
ments, 257-259 

Enlisted  men  and  apprentices, 
259 

Marine  corps,  261,262 

Revenue  marine,  263 

Naval  Academy,  264 

War  college  and  torpedo  sta- 
tion, 265,  266 

Prize  money,  266 
NAVY  DEPARTMENT,  THE, 

Ship  building,  252-254 

Gun  shop,  254 

Navy  yards,  255 

Naming  ships,  255,  256 

Created,  256 

Secretary  of,  256 

Organization,  257 

Marine  corps,  261,262 

Revenue  marine,  263 

Hydrographic  office,  263 

Naval  observatory,  263 

Naval  Academy,  264 


INDEX 


355 


NAVY  DEPARTMENT,  THE, 
War  college  and  torpedo   sta- 
tion, 265,  266 

NEWSPAPERS, 
Representatives  of,  173 
In  the  mails,  237,  240 

O 

Ordinance  of  1787,  275,  276 


PARDON, 
Power   of,  in    the    President, 

142.  143 

Amnesty,  142,  143 
Does  not  extend  to  impeach- 
ment, 142,  151 
Effect  of,  143 

Extends  to  treason,  143,  144 
President    Lincoln's   view    of, 

143 

Congress  cannot  restrict,  144 
Reprieve,  145 
Commutation,  146 
Procedure,  146 
Murder  cases,  148 
Examination  of  petitions,  171 
Forfeited  recognizances,  171 
Patents,  187,  286,  287 
PETITIONS, 

Presentation  to  Congress,  55, 56 
Pocket  veto,  129 
POST  OFFICE  DEPARTMENT, 
Mails, 

Protection  of,  119,  243 
Speeding  of,  238 
Postage  rates,  239,  240 
Classification,  242 
Collection    and    delivery, 

243 
Unmailable  matter,  244 


POST  OFFICE  DEPARTMENT, 
Mails, 

Registered  mail,  245,  246 
Railway  and  ocean  service, 

246-249 

Establishment  of   postal    ser- 
vice, 233 

Postmaster-General,  234,  237 
Made  an  executive  Department, 

234 

Colonial  mail  service,  235-238 
Number  of  post-offices,  239 
Revenue,  policy  as  to,  240 
Organization,  241,  242 
Money  orders  and  postal  notes, 

244,  245 

Dead  Letter  Office,  246 
"Star  routes, "247 
Telegraph,  use  of,  249 
Postal  treaties,  250 
PRESIDENT    OF    THE     UNITED 

STATES, 
Salary,  40 

Messages  from  Congress,  54 
To  Congress,  57 
Annual,  94-96 
Approval  of  bills,  57,  126-131, 

170 

A  single  Executive,  68 
Term,  71,  72 

Cabinet  of,  70,  71, 105-107,  169 
Choice  of,  73-83,  87,  88 
Election  by  House,  80-83 
No  longer  notified  of  election, 

90-91 

Qualifications,  85 
Succession  to  the  office,  86 
Vacancies,  86 
Electoral  commission,  88 
Inauguration   ceremonies,   92- 

97 


356 


INDEX 


PRESIDENT    or    THE    UNITED 

STATES, 

Enforcement  of  the  laws,  98, 
114-120 

Use  of  army  in,  1 35 
Appointments,  99-104, 108, 110, 
167-170 

Removals,  101-104 
Relations    of    Senate    to, 

101-103 

Office-seekers,  110,  167, 179, 180 
Powers  of,  119,  120, 124,  125 
Commander-in-chief,  124 
Vetoes,  126-132 
Treaties,  134-141 
Pardons,  142-148 
Amnesty,  142,  143 
Impeachment,  148-151 
Executive  Mansion,  159 

Grounds  and  rooms  of,  177, 

178 

Office  and  desk,  160 
Office  force,  161 
Mail,  162-164 
Proper  address  and  title,  164, 

165 

Callers,  166,  173-175 
Desk  work,  170-173 
Receptions,  174,  175 
Social  intercourse,  175-177 
Official  etiquette,  176 
Foreign      affairs,      connection 

with,  189-193 
Proclamations,  191,  277 
Public  debt,  209 
PUBLIC  LANDS, 
Area,  270-271 
How  acquired,  271,  272 
Sale  and  survey,  278 
Homesteads,  274 
Grants,  274,  275,  287 


PUBLIC  LANDS, 
Ordinance  of  1787,  276 
Mines,  277 

Q 

Quorum,  48,  49,  50 

R 

RAILROADS, 
Strikes,  118-120 
Land  grants  to,  274,  278,  287 

Mines  reserved,  278 
Commissioner  of,  288 
Interstate  commerce  law,  295, 
296 

RANDOLPH,  EDMUND, 
Plan  of  Government,  14 
Plan  for  electing  Senators,  20 
Opposed  unity  of  Executive,  68 

RECEPTIONS, 

By   the    President,    174,   175, 
192-194 

Register  of  the  Treasury,  212,  213 

RELIGION, 
Land  grant  for  purposes  of,  273 

REMOVALS  FROM  OFFICE, 
Concurrence  of  Senate,  101-103 
An    incident    of     appointing 
power,  104 

REPRESENTATIVES  (see   HOUSE 
OF). 

RETIREMENT, 

Of  Army  and  Navy  officers,  259 
Of  Supreme  Court  justices,  318 

REVENUE, 

Bills  for  raising,  58,  59 
Discussion  in  convention,  59 
Tariff  and  excise  duties,  62,  63 

Riders  on  bills,  131,  132 

RULES, 
Of  House,  44-46 


INDEX 


357 


RULES, 

Of  Senate,  47,  48 
Joint  rules,  52 
Special  orders,  45 

S 

SALARIES, 

Of  Senators   and  Representa- 
tives, 39 

Mileage,  41 
"Salary  grab,"  39 
Of  President,  40 
Of  Justices  of  Supreme  Court, 

40,  317 

Of  Speaker  of  the  House,  44 
In  departments,  110 
Of  members  of  Cabinet,  186 
Of  Ambassadors  and  Ministers, 

196 

Of  military  cadets,  229 
Of  Commissioner  of  Fish  and 

Fisheries,  298 
Of  Judges,  Court   of    Claims, 

328 
SEAL, 

Of  the  United  States,  199,  200 
Of  departments,  199 
Seat  of  Government,  36,  37 
Seats  in  Senate  and  House,  55 
Secretary  of  Agriculture,  289 
Secretary  of  the  Interior,  268, 269 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  256 
SECRETARY  OF  STATE, 
Head  of  the  Cabinet,  182 
Selection  of,  182 
Wm.  H.  Seward,  183 
Salary,  185, 186 
Thomas  Jefferson,  186, 189 
Foreign    affairs,     conduct    of, 

189-196 
Custodian  of  seal,  199 


SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY, 
Makes  estimates  for  appropri- 
ations, 58 
Discretion  of,  206 
Duties,  210 

Secretary  of  War,  221,  222 
Secretary  to  the  President,  161 
Secret  sessions  of  Congress,  41, 

42, 135 
SENATE, 
Senators, 

Terms,  20 

Election,  20,  28,  29,  43,  51 
Qualifications,  26,  43 
Classification,  33,  34 
Salary,  39 
Mileage,  41 

Seats,  assignment  of,  55 
Impeachment  of,  153 
Vacancies,  33 
Special  sessions,  38,  52 
Secret  sessions,  41,  42 
President  and    President   pro 

tempore,  46,  47 
Committees,  47,  58,  59 
Cloture,  48 
Quorum,  48-50 
Yeas  and  nays,  50 
Organization,  51,  52 

Notice  of,  to  House    and 

President,  54 
Presentation  and  reference  of 

bills  and  petitions,  55 
Finance  Committee,  58,  59 
Power  to  originate   appropri- 
ation bills,  61 

Presidential  appointments, 
Confirmation  and  rejection 

of,  100, 101, 108 

Participation  in,  109 

Treaties,  action  on,  134-141 


358 


INDEX 


SENATE, 

Impeachment  trial  of,  149 
Seward,  William  EL,  183 
SHIPS  (see  NAVY). 
Slaves,  22 
Smithsonian     Institution,     292- 

294 

Solicitor-General,  231 
SPEAKER  OF  HOUSE  OF  REPRE- 
SENTATIVES, 
Great  powers  of,  26,  44 
Salary,  44 
Pro  tempore,  44 
May  vote,  45 

Recognition  of  members,  45 
A  leader  necessary,  46 
Succession  to  Presidency,  86 
Special  sessions,  36,  38,  52 
Standing  army,  226,  227 
Star  routes,  247 
STATE,  DEPARTMENT  OF, 
Laws,   filing    and   publication 

of,  128 
Secretary  of,  182-187,  189-196, 

199 
Under  the  Confederation,  184, 

185 

Under  the  Constitution,  187 
Patents,  copyrights,  and  cen- 
sus, 187 

Organization,  187-189 
Methods  of  business,  189 
Diplomatic  correspondence,  189 

-191, 195, 196 
President's   participation     in, 

189, 190 
Foreign   representatives,    190- 

194 
Thanksgiving     proclamations, 

190 
Congratulatory  letters,  191 


STATE,  DEPARTMENT  OF, 
Ambassadors    and    Ministers, 

194-196, 199 

Consular  service,  196-198 
The  "Great  Seal,"  199 

STATES, 

Constitutions  of,  2,  6 
Governments  of,  10 
Powers  prohibited  to,  12,  64 
Representation  in  Congress,  24 
Electors  of  Representatives,  27 
Election  of  Senators  and  mem- 
bers, 28-33 
Cannot  lay  duties,  64 
Courts  of,  114,  305,  311 
General  powers  of,  116 
Domestic  violence,  118-120 
Call  on  President  for  aid,  119 
Treaties,  cannot  make,  135 
Ships  named  after,  255,  256 
Admission  of  new,  276,  277 

Statutes  at  large,  129 

Strikes,  118-120 

Succession  to  Presidency,  86,  87 

SUPREME  COURT, 
A  great  tribunal,  303 
Constitutionality  of  laws,  303, 

308,  309 

Tries  cases,  not  questions,  304 
Interpretation  of  laws,  305 
Suits  against  states,  306 
Views    of     Washington     and 

Webster,  307,  308 
Judicial  power  of  the  United 

States,  310-312 
Decisions  of,  final,  311 
Political  questions,  312,  313 
Established  by  the  Constitu- 
tion, 314 

Justices,  number  of,  314,  317, 
326 


INDEX 


359 


SUPREME  COURT, 
Justices, 
Salary  of,  40,  317 
Appointment    and  retire- 
ment of,  317,  318 
Tenure  of  office,  318 
Character  of,  329 
Organization  of,  316 
Jay  and  Marshall,  316 
Gowns  and  wigs,  319 
Jurisdiction  of,  32C-325 
Writ  of  errors  to  state  courts, 

333 

Follows  state  courts,  when,  323 
Original  jurisdiction  of,  325 
SURVEY, 

Coast  and  geodetic,  219 
Of  public  lands,  273 
Geological,  288 

T 

Tariff,  62,  63 
TAXES, 
Taxing  power  of  United  States, 

62 
Duties,   imposts,  and  excises, 

62-64 

Direct  and  capitation,  63,  64 
On  incomes,  65 
Telegraph,  The,  249 
Tenure  of  office  law,  102,  103 
Territories,  The,  275-277 
Thanksgiving  proclamations,  191 
TREASON, 

Pardon  of,  143,  144 
Treasurer  of  the  United  States, 

211,  212 
TREASURY,  DEPARTMENT  OF 

THE, 

Revenue,  need  of,  202 
A  steam  plant,  203 


TREASURY,    DEPARTMENT    OP, 
THE, 

Operations  of,  203 

A  great  bank,  203,  206 

Redemption,  204 

Receipts    and    disbursements, 
205 

Under  the  Confederation,  206- 
208 

Under  the  Constitution,  209 

Debt  of  the  United  States,  209 

Organization  of,  210 

The  Secretary  of,  58,  206,  210 

Assistant  secretaries,  211 

Treasurer,  211,  212 

Register,  212,  213 

Comptroller,  of  the  Treasury, 
213,  214 
Of  the  Currency,  214 

Auditors,  215 

Internal  revenue,  216,  217 

The  mint,  217 

Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Print- 
ing, 217 

The  secret  service,  218 

Supervising  architect,  218 

Marine  hospitals,  219 

Coast  and  geodetic  survey,  219 

Light-house  board,  219 

Life  saving  service,  220 

Revenue  marine,  263 
TREATIES, 

Rights  of  aliens  under,  121-123 

Power  to  make,  134 

Senate  may  amend,  134 

The  supreme  law,  135 

States  cannot  make,  135 

Considered  in  secret,  135 

Debates  in  convention,  136, 137 

Participation  of  House  in,  136- 
141 


360 


INDEX 


TREATIES, 
Law  may  annul,  140 
Postal,  250 
With  Indian  tribes,  281,  284 

U 

UNITED  STATES, 
A    government    of     specified 

powers,  9 

General  powers  of,  12,  114,  117 
Powers  reserved  to  the  states, 

12 

Not  a  confederation,  13 
A  government  of  the  people,  14 
Laws  of,  deal  with  the  citizen, 

15 

The  peace  pf,  114,  117 
Not  an  advisory  government, 

116 
Protects  mails  and  commerce, 

119,  120 
Duty  to  aliens,  121-123 


VETO, 

President's  power  of,  126-132 

Discussion  in  convention,  127 

Messages,  129 

"Pocket"  veto,  129 

Vetoes  by  President  Hayes,  132 

Restraints  on,  132 

Washington's  use  of,  133 

Action  of  Congress  on,  134 
VICE-PRESIDENT, 

President  of  Senate,  46 

Limited  powers  of,  47 

Votes  on  a  tie,  47 

Recognition  of  Senators,  47 

Election  of,  73-84 

Election  by  Senate,  83,  84 
Quorum  for,  48 


VICE-PRESIDENT, 
Succeeds  to  Presidency,  86 
Vacancies,  86 

W 

WAR, 
Must  be  declared  by  Congress, 

125 

WAR  DEPARTMENT,  THE, 
Under  the  Confederation,  221 
Under  the  Constitution,  221 
Secretary  of,  221,  222 
Organization,  223,  224 
Arsenals  and  fortifications,  225 
Standing  army,  227 
Bureau  of  Information,  227 
Military  Academy,  228 
WASHINGTON,  GEORGE, 
Inauguration  of,  2,  93 
Messages  regarding  appropri- 
ations, 62 

Notification  of  election,  90 
View  as  to  rejection  of  nomi- 
nations, 101 
Use  of  the  veto,  133 
Questions  of  etiquette,  175 
Questions     to     the    Supreme 

Court,  304 
Estimation  of  Supreme  Court, 

307 

Weather  Bureau,  224,  291 
WEBSTER,  DANIEL, 
Value    of    federal    judiciary, 

308 
WHITE  HOUSE  (see  EXECUTIVE 

MANSION). 
Wilson  Bill,  129 


Yeas  and  Nays,  50 


H. 


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